Saiyaman
by Falcaine
Summary: The origin story of the Great Saiyaman, as told from the perspective of an American comic book. Watch Gohan become the legendary Saiyaman of Orange Star City by defending it from villains that threaten it and the rest of the world and learning about the legacy his father left before him. AU
1. Pilot

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Gohan took a deep breath and surveyed the area around him. The courtyard was littered with students his age wandering around and chatting with their peers before class. The sight of so many teenagers actually scared him a little. Growing up on Mt. Poazu, Gohan had very few friends his age, as houses were few and far apart in his little area of the world.

_His former area of the world._ Gohan had to mentally correct himself for about the millionth time in five days. After far too many days of not being able to provide for her two very hungry sons, and having to travels miles away in order to acquire necessities, like meat and household products, Gohan's mother, Chi-Chi, had to take her two sons with her to try and find new work in Orange Star City.

Gohan can still remember the emptiness he felt upon hearing the news.

He forced himself to walk down the concrete leading to the three-story tall building called Orange Star High. Being homeschooled all his life by his mother has prevented Gohan from experiencing any sort of public schooling. Gohan can still remember some night were he would lay in his bed dreaming of what it would be like to go to a public school. He envisioned that it would be glorious and he would excel in everything that he did.

Now he just wants to go crawl back in bed.

But he still needs to at least go in the building. He reaches for one of the bronze doorknob and pulls back the door which is, amazingly, made of glass and feels the air conditioning hit him like a T-Rex.

Not that he would know, of course.

Fortunately for him, he is able to right away spot the main office on the right side of the concrete hallway where he could pick up his schedule for the semester. Most of the other students had probably already printed them out, but Chi-Chi had yet to go out and buy a computer for the family.

Opening the door (wood this time) Gohan spotted a woman sitting in a chair staring at her computer, the screen giving her skin a pale complexion, which made her look bored. Giving Gohan a glance she asked with forced politeness, "Can I help you?"

Gohan blurted out, "Uh, this is where I can print out my schedule, right?"

Turning back to her computer she tapped the keyboard a few times and stood up and walked to the computer in the back of the room. Glancing at the paper her eyes widening before catching herself and walking over to Gohan and handing the paper to him.

Deciding on classes had not been hard. Due to how well he did on his entrance exams, Gohan was limited to only the advanced classes.

Smiling and thanking the woman Gohan left and began to leave for his homeroom class. Turning a corner, Gohan found himself in a long hallway surrounded by lockers on either side of the hallway. And filled to the brim with students.

Orange Star High had one of the highest, if not the highest, academic reputations in the entire Orange Star District. This, of course, had attracted massive amounts of students to its doors. The final number Gohan had heard was somewhere around 1500 students. His former school had held only two students.

Observing the students as he walked down the hallway (Room 101… 102… 103…) Gohan observed bullies picking on smaller students, cheerleaders giggling in packs, and nerds carrying around massive books.

Or, actually, he didn't.

He saw some groups of students standing off to the side allowing some of the students to walk down the hall to find their friends or go to class.

Had all of the books lied to him?

Smiling a bit at himself, Gohan walked into his classroom, Room 107, and observed their seating arrangements. Being the size a college, OSH had adopted the lecture style room design. Gohan had estimated the class size being about at 50.

Gohan was pulled out of stupor by a man waving at him from the front of the class. He had brown hair that circled down around his very bushy beard. Completing his look, the teacher also wore a button up flannel shirt and brown pants. A lumberjack in the middle of a city. Go figure.

"Good morning!" He offered Gohan. "I believe that you are the new student, am I correct." Gohan answered the affirmative.

"Well you can call me Mr. Plum. It seems that I will be your homeroom and 1st period teacher this year." Gohan took the pause to introduce himself.

"So Gohan Son, I would like to get to know you better. But class will start very soon, so I will have to take a rain check on that. Can I get you stand up here until class starts?"

"Yes, sir."

Gohan leaned up against the wall and let his mind wander. Moving to the apartment had been taxing on the family, with really only Gohan and Chi-Chi to carry things. Gohan was plenty strong for age, having not much else to do during his down time on the mountain, but moving all of the furniture had seriously tired him out. The drive was terrible as well.

"Good morning class."

Goten. Gohan couldn't figure out what his little brother was feeling. Being ripped from his home (and Goten _loved his home)_ and being placed in the last year of middle school had to depress anyone. Yet, Goten still remained his chipper self. Rather his unlimited-energy self.

"So we have a new student joining us today." Gohan snapped back to reality and straightened up to face the class. There seemed to be about 30 students in the class, (not everyone can take Advance Calculus), but really got Gohan was dress. Most students were dressed extremely casual including one guy with a professional sports jersey on, a girl wearing sweat pants and a t-shirt, and one guy only wearing a wife beater. He kind of pulled it off, unfortunately. Gohan began to feel really self-conscious in his formal attire. His black sweater started to feel hot on his skin, and his khaki pants started to itch.

"So, introduce yourself to the class." Mr. Plum prodded Gohan.

"Well, my name is Gohan Son and I, uh, just moved here from Mt. Poazu." A mummer rumbled across the class and Mr. Plum had to clear his throat to restore order. The silence allowed Gohan to continue. "I guess that I like to read and uh…" Gohan rubbed the back of his neck and continued, "I, uh, don't know what else to say."

Plum smiled and saved Gohan by saying, "That's fine Gohan, I'm sure we'll find out more about you as the school year progresses. If I may say something, I saw Gohan's entrance exam, and I think you all are going to half to work really hard to surpass this guy." A few snickers could be heard in the class.

"Does anyone have anything they want to say to, or ask Gohan?"

One boy in the front row blurts out, "Dude, you look like you're on a date!" Gohan started to blush until one boy higher up added jokingly, "Note, man, we are in Advanced Calculus. None of us get dates!"

The girl sitting beside him added, "And especially not you Note!" At that the class burst into laughter, including Note, and Plum regained the order of the class with a smile on his face. "Alright, alright that's enough. Gohan, why don't you go and sit next to… Erasa. You see the girl on the third row." Gohan nodded, still smiling himself, and walked up and sat next to the blond girl. The blond girl smiled at Gohan as he took his seat and Gohan noticed her short blond hair, blue eyes, and green tube top. That was totally all he looked at.

She whispered in a low voice, "Erasa, Erasa Rubba."

Gohan responded by whispering, "Gohan Son."

Erasa blinked at him, "I know. You just introduced yourself." Gohan cursed himself for forgetting that already and making a blunder. The girl giggled to herself. "It's alright Gohan. I know that you are nervous and being polite. I'm just teasing you." Smiling at him, she added, "But we probably should pay attention to Mr. Plum. He's been talking since you sat down." Nodding, Gohan looked to the front of the room.

"…so the school always mandates that the first day of homeroom should be used to read all of the rules and guidelines for the upcoming year. But since you all are juniors and can go to the bathroom by yourself, I'm just going to play the rules aloud from one of those online read-aloud things on low volume while you talk to yourselves until homeroom ends."

Laughed danced around the room along with some whoops and clapping. Finishing her own clapping, Erasa turned to Gohan and asked him, "So you did well on your entrance exams, then?"

Gohan, afraid of being labeled in the first period, responded, "Well fairly well, I guess, I'm sure you guys did better."

"Well, what percentage?"

Turning red Gohan answered, "Uh, 95%"

Erasa mouthed 'Wow' and turned to the boy sitting beside her who had been listening in. "Sharpener, can you believe that!?" Sharpener grunted and responded, "Well you got me beat there Brains, but I definitely have you beat in the muscle department." It was true. Sharpener was the wife-beater boy, and had the muscles to fit it. His long blond hair only accented them.

Smiling good naturedly, Sharpener added, "From boxing."

A third party voice jumped in from past Sharpener. "Sharpener! Don't pick on the guy! The only thing you need to pick that guy on is his brain. You'll need the help."

Sharpener looked fake offended and started to whine to the owner of the voice, a girl, about how mean she is to him. The girl was short with black hair fitted in to two pony tails, hanging on either side of her head. She wore a loose fitting white T-shirt and black shorts and had two large blue eyes. That were rolling in response to the blond beside her.

Erasa, to clear the situation, told Gohan, "The crybaby there is Sharpener, our best boxer in the school."

Pausing she continued, "And the girl is Videl Satan. She's the daughter of the police chief."

Gohan arched an eyebrow, "Wow, the police chief of Orange Star City, he must really know his stuff then, after all this city is huge."

"And dangerous." Videl added. She paused and then said, "You are still new here, so you probably don't know about this city or my father. This city has been plagued with crime for so many years now." Videl shakes her head." Gohan I will say this once, because I only need to say this once. _Be careful. _The crime syndicates around here will tear you apart if you let them. They can see your naiveté."

Gohan, stunned, managed to squeak out. "Uh, thanks."

"Videl! Don't freak the guy out on his first day of class!" Erasa scolded her friend.

"He needs to know." Sharpener adding his two cents.

Gohan managed to recover and finally said, "Erasa it's okay, at least I'll be more vigilant now. Uh, thanks Videl."

Videl nodded and looked back to her notebook.

Erasa broke the silence by asking, "So Gohan what was life in the mountains like? I mean it must be really different than living here."

Gohan finally smiled and said, "Well, where should I begin, my favorite thing would have to be-"

"Alright class it is time to begin 1st period, so take out your notebooks, and we will begin." Mr. Plum cut the conversations short with a surprisingly booming voice.

Gohan whispered, "I'll tell you later." Erasa smiled.

* * *

Meanwhile in the Orange Star Police Station, Hercule Satan spilled coffee on one of his documents. Inwardly cursing, Hercule stood up and shook the page over the trash can to try and get it to dry off a bit. Sitting back in his chair and sighing Hercule contemplated the recent few weeks. Crime had been the smallest that it had been in recent memory. There were some whispers around the Police Station that it would stay that way.

Hercule knew better. He dialed his receptionist on his phone and politely asked for another copy of the last Red Shark report. The Red Shark gang had been a problem for years and had created a track record consisting of everything from drugs, violence, theft, sexual assault, to human trafficking.

The report (A dry one, thanks to Jenny) told Hercule of rumors circulating around the city about their most recent hideout being somewhere in the South West of the city. The police had busted up their previous hideout two months ago. Hercule himself had led on the scene, and many people had told him that the bust was his most clever and greatest achievement at that time.

Hercule tended to ignore such things. It was times of silence like this that Hercule worried most about his daughter. He sometimes wondered if the first call he received would be about her.

* * *

Walking home after school Gohan felt much lighter than he had felt in the morning. _I guess that I had worried too much about school._ Gohan had done his "research" regarding high school in the few days before school and was terrified at what he read. Those "fanfictions" were especially brutal.

The day had gone by pretty quiet. He saw the same people pretty much in each class, as advanced students seemed to stick together. Sharpener, Erasa, or Videl had been in each of his classes, except for his gym class, where he recognized a boy from his math class named Pen. He had spent lunch with the three from his math class and had gotten to know them better. Videl, no surprise, wanted to follow her father and become a great police chief like her father. The determination that exuded from her when she expressed her goal gave Gohan shivers. Sharpener had expressed his desire to be a detective, which caught Gohan off guard, who was expecting "body-builder." He wasn't in advanced classes for nothing, Gohan supposed. Erasa, however, threw Gohan for the biggest loop, when she announced her desire to be an engineer. Gohan had blinked a few times and then asked her which kind, which Erasa had shrugged and responded with "Whatever the funnest!"

Gohan learned not to judge people based on appearances.

Walking up to his apartment building, Gohan remembered his brother, and his first day of class. _I hope he had a good day as well. _Gohan knew that he had gotten lucky and met three really good people. He guessed that few other people would randomly offer to hang out with a new kid.

The Son's apartment was on the third floor of the apartment complex, which was not the most awful place on the earth, but definitely not the best. The white paint was chipped in multiple places and Gohan had found a couple holes in the wall that were created by who knows what. The apartment offered two bedrooms, one for the brothers and one for Chi-Chi. The kitchen was modest, but the oven and stove covered most of Chi-Chi's desires. There was also a family room that had to double as a dining room.

But it was home.

Gohan walked in to see his mother chopping vegetables on the granite counter, who greeted him with a smile.

"Gohan! How was your day, honey?"

Throwing his backpack in this room, Gohan answered his mother, "It was really good actually. I met some good people in homeroom."

"That's great honey! Oh, and dinner will be ready in about an hour."

Gohan sat down on the couch and opened a book he was reading. Unfortunately, mayhem was waiting in the bathroom. The bathroom door opened suddenly and a figure ran out and jumped on Gohan. The older brother grunted and caught the intruder and turned to drop it back on the couch.

Goten groaned and looked up at Gohan saying, "Dangit, I thought I had you that time."

Gohan grinned, "Maybe next time."

Goten sat up and moved to allow his brother to sit down beside him.

"So how was your day squirt?"

Goten frowned at the nickname, but still answered. "I guess it was good. I found some people who I think are cool."

"Well what are their names?" Gohan prodded futher.

"There's this one guy named Trunks Briefs who seems to like the same video games as me. We both also have some great ideas to prank this cranky teacher named Mrs. Salt." Goten rubbed his hands together giddily. "It's gonna be great!"

"You really shouldn't try to prank your teachers, Goten." Gohan tried to calm down his brother. He had also looked back at his mother when the chopping of the vegetables had abruptly stopped. When it began again, slightly less orderly than before, he turned back to Goten. "So who's the other person? You said a couple people were cool."

Goten turned a bit red and looked away from Gohan. "Uh, nobody else just Trunks" Goten said hastily.

Gohan smirked. "Ooh, I get it. It's a girl isn't it?"

Goten jumped up and walked away, sputtering, "I-It doesn't matter! Come on let's go to the park like we agreed to do!" Smiling, Gohan stood up and followed after his brother.

Calling back to his mother, Gohan told his mother their plans and had promised to be back for dinner. Chi-Chi had agreed without any sort of a fight, which Gohan found strange, but he shrugged it off.

* * *

The park was worth the trip. Gohan felt as if he was stepping into Narnia, upon stepping into the park for the first time. He found it amazing that such a lush natural place could exist in the middle of a giant metropolitan city like Orange Star City. He figured that the plants had no problem breathing, with all of the carbon dioxide flowing in from the city.

The Son boys had spent the time in the park absolutely goofing off. Goten climbed trees like he used to back on Mt. Paozu and smiled more in that short time than he had smiled the last few days. Gohan felt somewhat relieved that Goten had found at least one place where he could be happy. It wasn't until Gohan noticed that the sun was going down that made him check the time. They had stayed there much longer than Gohan had promised Chi-Chi. She was going to be mad.

So Gohan and Goten were now hustling down the street in the dimming light severely afraid of being on the blunt end of Chi-Chi's famous frying pan. Gohan knew that all the blame would be placed on him, as he was the oldest. _At least I'll have more time to study now._ Gohan sighed.

Then he heard the scream.

Turning around, Gohan saw with horror that Goten was being held by the collar of his orange shirt with a gun pressed against his temple. The man holding his brother hostage looked to be in his early thirties, about average height, with graying brown hair. The most gruesome thing had to be ugly scowl across his face.

Gohan realized with horror that he and Goten had, in their haste to get home, had stumbled into a bad neighborhood. The man had seen them coming, and seeing two teenagers, had decided to take the easy prey by hiding in an alley between two buildings.

The man spoke, "Money, cell phone, valuables. Now." He then added, "Or the kid gets hurt."

Gohan attempted to calm the man saying, "Listen, I uh, I don't have anything on me, alright?" He slowly turned out his front pockets showing the man that they were empty.

The man simply moved his arm harder against Goten's head. The motion gave Gohan a glimpse of something on the man's upper arm, on his shoulder. A shark tattoo.

"Don't lie to me kid. You have got to have something."

Goten cried weakly, "Gohan." Tears were starting to roll down his face.

Desperation took Gohan. His mind filled with panic as his mind started to see his brother being shot in front of him. _I should have listened to Videl. She warned me, but I didn't listen to her. And now Goten's going to… No! _Chi-Chi's crying face flashed before him. The face of his father stared at him with an emotionless frown. A voice in his mind said, "You have failed me, son. Now Goten has to pay."

But suddenly, a different voice spoke in his mind as his father's face changed into a smile. "Do it Gohan. Embrace your destiny. Your destiny as the guardian of Earth."

The next thing Gohan did was act. He lunged forward faster than he ever thought possible and grabbed the man's gun hand and lifted it to point at the sky with his left hand. In the same motion, he clenched his right hand and punched the man hard in the chest sending him careening back into the alley.

Goten had fallen over during the scuffle and rushed over behind his brother.

"Are you okay, Goten?"

Goten looked up at his brother and froze. Gohan, when he did not hear a reply, deduced that something was wrong. He took his eyes away from the man, who was not moving, and looked at Goten's face, and followed his eyes to himself. His head, specifically. Gohan bit into temptation, and began to push Goten in the direction of home. But not before looking into a window of an empty building.

He saw teal eyes looking back at him. The thing that took most of his attention was the glow surrounding them. His hair had spiked up, pointing toward the sky, and had turned a blinding gold.

As sudden as it appeared, his hair returned to its normal color. Gohan wondered if he had been hallucinating. Turning to Goten who was still stupefied, Gohan offered a weak smile.

"Let's go home."


	2. Whispers

**Chapter Two: Secrets**

Gohan and Goten slowly walked back into their apartment, Chi-Chi's wrath seeming a bit less important than their previous predicament. But not at all less terrifying. She was sitting on the couch watching a TV program when she heard the door open and promptly shot up to scold her children. Upon seeing the look on their faces Chi-Chi calmed down. She knew their "we are in trouble faces" and these were not them.

"Is everything okay, boys?"

Goten looked up at his brother, asking him to tell the story, as if Gohan actually knew what exactly happened. The eldest son turned to Chi-Chi and asked if dinner was ready. Chi-Chi took the hint and led her boys to the table, where she placed the boys' plates in front of them. After taking a bite of chicken, Gohan began to tell the story. He explained that they had lost track of time and decided to hurry back home after realizing their mistake. Calmly, he then explained the attempted robbery. Instead of explaining the weird way the confrontation ended, as he did not understand it himself, he instead told her that the thug moved on after realizing that Gohan and Goten had nothing worthwhile on them. It wasn't totally a lie, Gohan supposed.

Chi-Chi remained strangely silent throughout the entire story. After Gohan finished the account, there was a brief pause.

"Well, I am just glad that you two are okay." Gohan let out an internal sigh of relief. _At least she didn't question me on what happened. I wouldn't know how to answer her. _"However…" Gohan glanced at his mother. "…don't think that this excuses you two being late to dinner." Gohan smiled. Chi-Chi stood up and put her hands on her hips. "I know very well how close that park is. You spent much more time there than you told me. Therefore, I want you both to get cleaned up, do whatever homework you need to do, then go to bed. Do you understand me?"

Gohan did his best to look disappointed while he answered his mother and walked with Goten to their room. He couldn't stop the smile after the door was closed.

"Why are you smiling Gohan?"

"Mom did what she felt would make this night feel normal and somehow it worked!" He laughed. "She's trying her hardest."

Goten still looked confused. "Okaaaay, Gohan… Well I'm getting a shower."

Gohan laid back on his bed and stared up at the ceiling after the water began to run. Staring up at the ceiling, Gohan allowed the events of the day to replay before him. He remembered walking into class for the first time and feeling those eyes upon him. He remembered talking to new friends (he guessed). Taking Goten to the park. He replayed everything until the mugging, at which he had to stop. Then there was that. Whatever had happened to him when he fought the man.

He closed his eyes and tried to remember the feelings that had overcome him right before his transformation. He remembered the hate, the anger, the disappointment, yet he could not figure out how to recreate the power that he possessed. He also just couldn't imagine himself as a bleach blond. After getting tired of shooting in the dark, Gohan sat up and took a sip of water out of the bottle on his bedside. Goten took his moment to leave the bathroom, leaving it to Gohan. He got up, entered the bathroom, and turned the water on. While watching the water fall down, Gohan couldn't help but think that his father had something to do with all of this.

After her boys left the room, Chi-Chi felt the exhaustion she had accumulated over dinner overtake her. All she wanted was to be able curl up in her bed and go to sleep. Yet, duty called. She stood up and started to gather up all of the dishes her family had used and placed them end the sink to wash them. Pouring some dish soap in the sink, she began to think to herself. _Oh, Goku. There seems to be more of you in our boys than we had thought… I know Gohan was lying to me. He always glances to the left when is fibbing. And yet I can't punish him for that. After all, I have been lying to both them for years. About you. About us. About… them. _She stopped her train of thought momentarily to scratch at a piece of food that wouldn't come off of a plate. _I can't tell him anything. He has to make the decision himself. Even if it kills me to do this. That's what you would have wanted for him too…_

* * *

"Hey Sharpener, can I have that apple if you aren't going to eat it?"

Sharpener blinked, stunned. "Uh, sure." He said, handing him the apple. The two females at the table were also staring open-mouthed at Gohan from what he had mentioned a second earlier.

Erasa broke the silence. "What the heck do mean you were mugged three days ago? And how are you being so calm about it!? I would've run crying to Videl's house!" Gohan shrugged. "He didn't take anything."

Videl had been informing her friends about some of the things her father had told her about city. Upon mentioning the historical low in crime recently, Gohan had chuckled and thrown that little curveball in. Videl's eyes narrowed. "You don't look hurt. And you said that he didn't take anything. Why not?"

"Didn't have anything on me."

Sharpener asked the next question. "Not even your cell phone?"

"Don't have one."

"Did you report the crime to the police?"

"Well he didn't take anything so I didn't think to do that."

Videl rubbed her temples, "He had to have a weapon out."

"He had a gun."

"Then report that Gohan! You can't just threaten somebody!" Videl stood up for extra emphasis.

Giving Videl some time to cool off, Sharpener asked, "Did he have any sort of striking identifier? Like a scar… or a tattoo?"

"Uh… why?"

"Humor me."

"Well, he had this tattoo on his shoulder. It kind of looked like a shark."

"Red Shark!-were attacked by a!-and your alive!?"

Gohan looked between his friends, who had all spoke at the same time upon hearing the design. "What?"

Videl spoke first. "The Red Shark Gang! They've been a crime syndicate in this city for decades! My father's goal is to dissolve them. They have created more violence, drugs, and illegal activities than every other gang combined."

Gohan scratched the back of his head. "So I ran into a Red Shark Member then…"

"You need to avoid that place, Gohan. Don't even think about them ever again." Sharpener added quietly.

"Yeah listen to Sharpener about the Red Sharks, because he'd know." Erasa added her two cents.

"Erasa!" Videl hissed to her friend.

"Oops, sorry Sharpie!" Erasa covered her mouth with her hands.

Sharpener said nothing and just looked away from all of them.

Gohan eager to change the subject and seeing an opportunity to do so said, "So what do you guys think about Mrs. Avocadi's class…"

* * *

A woman looks away from the menu in front of her. "I suppose I'll have the pasta primavera."

The waiter writes it down on his notepad, excuses himself from the man and woman and begins to walk back to the kitchen to place the order. After putting the note in its proper place, he turns around and scans the room looking at his designated tables for drinks that need to be refilled. Observing one belonging to a man who apparently required a gallon of water for eating a burger, he picked up a water jug from the cute new waitress and began to walk over to the table. He really should get her name… and number.

The restaurant was named The Edge of the Sea and had been in business for a few years. It was widely considered one of the greatest restaurants in West Orange Star and possibly the whole city. Their menu specialized in everything to everything and received visits from people all over the city. The Edge of the Sea had been called the "Stomach of Progress" by the _Stargazer_, the premier newspaper of Orange Star City, due to all the business transactions conducted within its walls.

The waiter had observed that business had gone down recently, which hadn't affected his pay check much, as the rich generally tip well when they are happy, but still did not bode well for the restaurant. The waiter refilled the man's water and began to walk back in the direction of the kitchen.

He watched the front door open, with the accompanying ring, and observed the man who walked in. He was tall, with slick black hair and brown eyes. He was dressed in a full suit, with polished black shoes, and a crimson tie. He walked with a purposeful stride in the direction of the restaurant manager's office.

The waiter, who did not want to let this random man walk into Mr. Tune's office walked up to him. "Excuse me sir, but do you have an appointment with Mr. Tune?" The man looked down at him for a moment, then lifted his head and looked past him. The waiter turned around to see Mr. Tune coming out with a smile. "Oh, it is so good to see you my old friend! Come, come, let us speak in my office!" The man then waited for the waiter to step out of the way, and then followed Mr. Tune into the back. The waiter decided to get back to his work.

Tune opened the door for his friend and his two body guards. After shutting the door with them all in and locking the dead bolt, his face grew solemn. "So is it time, Don Piran? Is the plan ready to go?" Piran walked over to the window. "Yes. Yes it is time." He then turned around to face the three men present in the room. "It is time to acquire the Dragon Balls."

"Let us discuss."

* * *

Gohan and Sharpener were walking to their 5th period class after lunch. Gohan wasn't sure whether he should try and say anything after that little debacle and Sharpener seemed to have closed off. _Well, this will give me some time to think._ For the last few days Gohan had been trying to figure out how to do the "transformation," as he had dubbed it. He had tried every single emotion he could remember feeling from that time. So far, none have worked. He had theorized that maybe an action could bring it out. None of those worked either and he had embarrassed himself when Goten had walked in on a particularly weird pose.

Which led him here. Finally gaining the courage he looked over at Sharpener. "So, Sharpener…" Sharpener just continued to look ahead. "Do you think you could teach me how to fight?"

That got Sharpener's attention. His head swerved over to face Gohan. "You want me, to teach you how to fight?" Gohan nodded. "Well… how about this? The boxing club is having a little mess around today to kick off the new school year. If you come to our training facility, I'll get you started on fighting."

"That sounds great Sharpener, I can't wait for tonight." Gohan said happily.

Sharpener groaned and tilled his head back. "See that's your problem Brains. You make it sound like it's a date…"

Don Piran smelled the food in front of him. _Disgusting. The same as always._ The head members of the Red Shark Gang were gathered around a large table in the Edge of the Sea, which had also prepared the food that they were eating. The rest of the restaurant was empty to also the party to eat and talk in silence. _This is the reason that this restaurant was built._ _No one thinks twice about any person wanting to come into this place._

Getting tired of hearing plates and silverware clink and bang, Piran stood up to command attention. He observed the people around him. The heads of the Red Shark Gang were composed of many different people from across Orange Star City. Some were business owners and had joined with the Red Shark Gang to stimulate their business and get ahead of their competitors. It was their greed that led them here. Others looked to be in need to a decent bath. They had joined the Gang because they felt like they had no other option when a family member got ill or died and money became an issue. Piran had developed the theory that it was that actually their hate of the world that brought them here. In short, their group personified greed and hate. Piran figured that it would have to do.

"Greetings, friends and warriors. Today we take the first few steps in our goal of obtaining all the money and power we could possibly want."

A few people in the room smiled and licked their lips at that. _Idiots._

"Those of you who are new to our organization may not know our goal or the means by which we will do this. I will now explain to all of you these things. But before I do that I must explain something you might think is irrelevant. I must explain to you the history of our great city."

"Our city was founded many years ago, after the Great War, when many people fled the war torn countries to find refuge away from the bombings and gunfire." He paused to take a drink. "They stumbled across this area, and what they found amazed and horrified them. Most of the indigenous people that lived in this area had all died, from either warfare or disease. The rest had all ran away to get away from the strife of the area. The settlers discovered the source of destruction of the area to be what are now known as Dragon Balls."

A few murmurs drifted around the table.

"A few of you know of this tale. The Dragon Balls are mystical orbs that are said to grant wishes. If you find the ball with one star on it, you are granted one wish. After finding the second, the ball with two stars on it, you are granted another wish. This applies to all of the balls until you get to the seventh."

Upon hearing this, one of the men at the table stood up. He shouted angrily, "I joined this gang to help my sister have a life! And you are telling me that our goal is to find the remnants of some kind of fairy tale!" Hitting the table for emphasis he continued, "And you continue to stand there like some sort of king. I think that it is about time for a change in leadership! One that does not read nursery rhymes."

Many of the men squirmed in their seats. Piran, who had remained standing, did the one thing that nobody at the table suspected. He unbuttoned his shirt. The men remained dumbfounded, until he reached the last button and revealed his bare chest. It was hardened with years of athletic training, but what caught the eye of every man in the room was the giant scar that ran from his right shoulder to his left hip.

After pausing Piran stated with a straight face, "Do I look like a man who believes in fairy tales?"

He began to button up his shirt. "I have been researching the Dragon Balls for years now. I am willing to present all the information I have about them in order to ensure that this operation goes as planned by us. Also…" He glanced at Floud, who had sunken back into his chair. "…so that there will be dissention in our ranks."

"I will now begin to present my information on the Dragon Balls." He popped open his briefcase to reveal some documents. "Ten years ago the sky across the entire world turned black. No area on the world reported otherwise."

The men nodded, as they all remembered the event. "I have reason to believe that the Dragon Balls were responsible for that event. There are records of worldwide blackages, as they have been called by historians, multiple times in history. These blackages always preceded miraculous sights. Dead have been reported walking. Men suddenly became wealthy, when before they wore rags. Natural disasters have arisen from impossible circumstances and ravaged certain cities. I believe that the great Empire of the Diablo was destroyed by such an event."

He held up the binder filled with paper. "It is all here. Our very city was named after these balls as the settlers who arrived here could understand their importance. These orbs are our ticket to power and glory. Now, to those who wish to join our plan, please stay. The others may take their leave."

No body moved. They all knew Piran would kill the men who left.

Piran smiled, "Then you all know how serious I am. Excellent. If that is the case, then let the discussion of the plan commence. All of you know who our greatest opponents is." The men nodded. "Hercule Satan." Piran's tone suggested mild respect. "Under his leadership, organized crime and petty crime has greatly decreased. It is because of him that my orders to stop crime of any kind were issued. Well, our seemingly depleted strength was not to fool him, Satan is no idiot. It was to fool his subordinates. They look at him as some sort of God. There is not a soul alive in this city that does not know his name. They look at him and the low crime rates and assume that as long as Satan is in charge, the numbers will stay low. So, when we strike, the lower officers will not be expecting it. Satan will be expecting something big, but will not be able to prevent it." Piran smiled, who obviously liked what he was about to say. "It will be Satan's own power that will be his downfall."

The sneers and positive body language of the room told Piran all he needed to know of his men's response.

"Then!" Piran clapped his hands together. "I will tell you all your jobs."

* * *

The boxing club met at a nearby gym called Bleed Orange. Gohan stood in front of it, dressed in clothes that he had bought quickly after class. He wore a navy blue short sleeved shirt with long black athletic pants. Gohan figured that he looked much different than when his classmates had previously seen him. He checked the address of the gym that Sharpener had written for the third time since he saw the gym, and matched it with the address written in white on the window.

The teenager then decided to walk in to the gym. Straight ahead loomed what most people considered a gym, with treadmills and weight benches scattered around, along with other equipment Gohan had never seen before. On his left was a counter with a man leaning on it. The man looked to be in his thirties and glanced up to see Gohan. "What can I do for you son?"

Gohan smiled at his internal inside joke. "I'm looking for Sharpener Penzil. Is he here?"

"An Orange Star kid, eh? Take that door over there," he said, pointing to a door behind Gohan.

Gohan thanked the man and walked over to the door. It led into a large room, with a boxing ring in the center, along with punching bags around the edges. There was some free space on the far end and the end Gohan was on where, Gohan presumed, students could warm up or work out. There was a group of teenagers standing in a circle all bent with their legs wide and upper bodies pointing to their feet. One of the teenagers looked up, it was Sharpener, and he motioned for Gohan to join them in stretching.

Gohan did so, and got a kick out of listening to the banter the boxers were spouting out as they went through a stretching routine. Some were talking about what they did over summer break and others were talking about new faces at OSH. A few were talking about poop. Gohan didn't want to know why or how. Sharpener ended the stretching and started to speak. "Alright, since this is the first boxing practice, we aren't doing anything organized. Shadow box, lift weights, use a punching bag, whatever. If you are new here, just ask somebody who isn't and they'll get cha' started. But don't ask this guy," he said pointing a guy who laughed. "He'll make you do something stupid. Gohan, come with me."

The group broke up. Gohan followed Sharpener who gestured to equipment. "Grab some gloves and a helmet. I've got a spare mouth piece, unused, that you can use." Sharpener then started to put on his own equipment. Gohan began to put on the least smelly equipment that he could find. "So, have you done anything like this before?"

Gohan pulled on a glove and said, "No, I've never boxed before." Sharpener nodded and waited for Gohan to finish putting on his equipment before stepping into the ring. He then began going over the basic stance and basic punching procedures. Gohan struggled for a minute, but got the stance down after a few minutes of Sharpener's prodding. Sharpener looked on astounded, but then had to recompose himself to teach Gohan how to punch. "Most guys tend to try and get all the power from their arms, but it comes from your legs and core. Try jabbing a few times. A jab is whatever side your lead foot is on."

Gohan did so. Sharpener gave advice, "Keep your right hand up, or I'll punch you after you punch me. And I'll punch harder, because you hit me first." Gohan listened and went through the motion a few more times. The captain then ordered Gohan to throw a few crosses, which are punches from the back foot, before stopping him.

"Okay, how about we spar a little. Nothing serious, I'll try and match the skill you are at."

Gohan gulped and got into his newfound boxing stance. This was it, this was why Gohan came here. If his power was going to reveal itself during a fight, then the time is now. Gohan just hoped he could contain it if the power suddenly arose.

Sharpener got into his stance and waited for Gohan to make the first move. Gohan threw a jab aiming for Sharpener's face, which Sharpener blocked with his hands and sidestepped to throw Gohan off. The new boxer responded with a right hand which Sharpener again blocked and sidestepped, but Gohan was expecting that after the first move and threw up his left hand in a quick left hook. Sharpener saw it and ducked under it and threw a quick jab towards Gohan's head, who quickly blocked it in desperation upon seeing his opponent's first attack. The spar went in this fashion for a while until Sharpener threw a punch that Gohan managed to block, but sent his upper body off balance. Gohan reacted quickly and pulled up his left leg into his chest and lashed out a kick into his partner's body. Sharpener couldn't react in time and was knocked down by the kick.

Gohan, realizing his blunder immediately went his friend's aid. "I-I'm sorry Sharpener, I-I, uh… I just kind of reacted! I didn't kick you on purpose. Well I mean I guess I did, but not like that." To his surprise Sharpener started laughing and held out his hand. "Held me up?" Gohan helped him to his feet. Sharpener paused before starting, "Okay Gohan, that was a perfect straight kick." He rubbed his stomach. "So spill, you had to have known some kind of martial art to have done that." Gohan rubbed the back of his head, "Well I did train with my Dad until I was about 9 or so… But that was such a long time ago I didn't think about saying it."

"I guess you retained more than you remembered, which is good." Sharpener looked away before adding, "You forced me to go a lot harder than I thought I was going to go. And that's impressive."

"No. There's no way I was that good," Gohan said in disbelief. "Well believe it Gohan. Am I'm sorry to do this but…" Sharpener launched a kick into Gohan's chest, who bent over to clutch it. "Now were even, so you don't hold his against yourself like you want to." Now it was Gohan's turn to laugh. Wiping the spit off his face, Gohan said, "That didn't feel like the kick of a boxer."

"I also do Muy Thai."

"I see…"

Sharpener cleared his throat before saying, "So if you ever feel like joining the boxing club, you're in."

"I suppose I will ponder on that for a while."

Sharpener sighed at his word choice and turned away, "Never mind."

Gohan responded, "What? Why!?"

He never got his answer because another boxer walked up to Sharpener to ask him for a spar. Sharpener pounded his fists together and accepted.

At that moment, another person appeared in the doorway. Videl opened the door, with Erasa trailing behind her.

She called out, "Yo, Sharpener!" The blond turned around to see his classmates. "Videl and Erasa. What brings you both here?"

Videl walked over to a spot to begin stretching. "I need some stress relief." Erasa just shrugged and said, "Well, all of my friends are here." She glanced across the room and her eyes landed on Gohan. "Look, Gohan is here! Hey Gohan what's up?"

Gohan was putting away his pads when he heard his name and turned around to see his bubbly friend. "Erasa! What are you doing here?" Erasa giggled and answered, "That's what I should be asking you Gohan. _I've _been here before. As to why I am here now, it is because of Videl." Gohan looked over to see the girl in question shadow boxing. A question occurred to him. "Hey Erasa, does Videl box?"

The blond snickered. "She does more than box. She does everything." Gohan looked at her confused, "What does that mean?" Erasa looked at Gohan and said, "Just watch her fight and all of your questions will be answered."

Videl had followed her friend over to see Gohan of all people standing there talking to her. "Hey Gohan, what are you doing here?"

"Well, uh, Sharpener was teaching me how to fight."

Videl looked at him with a knowing look. "I understand completely. Sharpener didn't rough you up too bad did he?"

Gohan, who had decided that he didn't need to broadcast his apparent "skills," simply responded by saying, "I think that I did okay. I don't have any bruises or anything."

Sharpener had been guzzling water from a bottle while Videl warmed up. He capped it and called over to the guy who had asked him for a spar. "Yo Cal, how about you spar with Videl? I need a short break." Cal, who was in the ring ready to go looked at his captain dumbfounded. "Are you kidding me?" Videl climbed under the ropes and stood opposite him, ready to go. "I can't hit a girl!" Sharpener looked up at him and shook his head.

"Don't worry." He said. "You won't be able to hit her."

Videl took that as her cue to begin. She immediately took her stance and began to advance toward her opponent. Cal instead took up a reluctant stance and kept his distance. Gohan walked up to Sharpener and asked, "Are you sure Videl should be fighting this guy? Cal looks pretty big…" Sharpener crossed his arms and looked at Gohan while Erasa giggled at his question. "Don't let Videl hear you say that. She'd get really mad and hit you." The female of the trio spoke up, "She's used to hearing stuff like that, though. That's probably why she's so tough. She's fought toe to toe with professional female martial artists before."

Sharpener kept silent while the three watched the fight. He suddenly said, "She's scary. A lot of the guys around the school think that it's sexy somehow. I just think that she's terrifying."

Erasa burst out with, "What are you talking about? You confessed your love to her all throughout middle school and through ninth grade!"

Sharpener turned a bit red in the face and tried to sound calm. "That was… just… different okay… Just let it go… I'm going to watch the fight now." The other two stopped smiling and followed his lead.

Videl somehow was keeping up with her much stronger and larger opponent. After one punch that went unblocked by Cal, Videl was able to take the advantage and eventually won when Sharpener decided that enough was enough. Sure enough, Cal hadn't landed a hit.

* * *

Gohan had decided to leave the gym after Videl had taken down her third opponent in an MMA style fight. It had ended after a kick to the stomach sent the poor guy to the ground. _And I thought that Mom could be scary._ He shook his head to clear out his thoughts. Now was not the time to focus on her. Now was the time to focus on it. The power.

During the fight with Sharpener Gohan had felt it stirring. It had almost broken free when that errant kick had hit Sharpener, but Gohan was able to suppress it after seeing Sharpener hit the ground. The oddest part of the whole situation was that the power also came back while Videl was fighting. She had dodged a surefire knock down from one of the guys and responded with an uppercut that knocked him to the ground. Gohan had felt a lot more powerful after that for some reason and he had to force himself to calm down.

He decided to walk to the park that he and Goten had been to previously. He wanted somewhere secluded to practice in peace and the park had a secluded spot near a pond for him to check his reflection.

He stood in front of the pond and forced himself to calm down. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes to focused on what he had felt earlier in the day. Feeling as if he had done it he opened his eyes. Gohan stared back at him, with black hair and teal eyes. Gohan immediately became desperate.

He closed his eyes and sat down, clutching his head. _Why can't I get this to work? I couldn't have hallucinated this could I? I just want… I want… This power could have been used to protect people. To help people! I want to protect people! _

Gohan felt a gust of wind roll across his body. He opened his eyes and faced the water to see teal eyes staring back at him. His hair was back to being spiky and golden. Gohan stood up, triumphant. _I'm doing it! Consciously this time. I felt stronger and faster before. But just how much stronger and faster have I become?_ It was time to test what exactly he could do.

He looked around the park to try and find something that he could use to test his newfound power. The only things in the area were park benches and trees. _I don't really want to destroy public property. _He ended up walking over to one of the larger trees and put his arms around it and began to lift up. _Lift with the legs, Gohan. _Focusing, he pulled up as hard as he could until he heard a rip. Glancing down where the tree used to be, the blond saw only a hole in the ground and roots that has ripped out the ground. Gohan gingerly put the tree back down in the hole (as best he could) and lightly apologized to the tree for ripping it out of the ground.

The golden haired boy mulled over the fact that he ripped a tree out of the ground without putting his full power into it. The idea kind of scared him. _Maybe I should try and lift up a car next time._ Putting that thought in the vault for the time being, Gohan decided to test out his speed. He remembering moving faster than normal during the time of the mugging but it felt like normal speed to him.

Looking down the path he took to get to this area of the park he noticed a long straight path that he could sprint down. He walked over to a good starting point, got into a sprinter's stance and readied himself. _3…2…1… Go!_ The speedster took off as fast as he good go. Unfortunately, he only got a few meters before he tripped over himself and tumbled down the path. Groaning he got up and looked back at where he started running. Realization dawned on him when he saw that he had run much farther along the path before he tripped. It felt like a few meters, but it was actually was a couple dozen.

_I need some kind of control variable in order to appropriately test this out. _He picked up a nearby rock and held it about at shoulder length. He dropped it and immediately took off and ran to a lamp post across the path. Reaching it, he turned around to look for the rock. He saw it hit the ground. _Wow… That's fast_. _In theory, I could measure my average velocity. But what's the fun in that? _

As the super-powered high school student began to think about what he should test out next, he checked the time on his watch and realized he should be getting home. _I did tell Mom that I'd be staying late today. But it is about curfew._ Making a decision Gohan picked up his backpack and powered down, his hair turning back to black. He exited the park and continued on toward his apartment building.

He began to think about what homework he needed to do before school on Friday, tomorrow, but he heard something that made all thoughts of normalcy depart. He heard the barest hint of a muffled scream come from a nearby alleyway.

Someone needed his help.


	3. Awkwardness

Chapter 3: A Call to Action

**AN: Goten's lines are gold. **

Gohan threw down his backpack and ran in the direction of the scream. Peering around a corner of a dark alley he saw a woman being pressed up against the wall by a man, who was covering her mouth. _So it's one of these then…_ He strained his ear to catch the conversation.

"…don't seem to understand that going home with me is an honor, hun. Now how about you walk in the direction of that apartment building over there. Or. I'll have to use my little friend." He lifted up his coat to point out a revolver gently tucked away in his pocket. "I'll be right behind you, so don't do anything stupid."

_Yep, this woman is definitely in danger. I just need to be wary of that gun. _Gohan thought to himself as he started to plan out his moves. He called upon his inner power, which responded immediately, his hair standing straight up. _Good, it's getting easier. Almost natural. _The man then pushed the woman to head out of the alley in the direction of Gohan. Noting the separation between them Gohan decided to act.

He rushed from his spot and put himself between the man and the woman. The man growled. "Get out of here kid! Or I'll pump you both full of lead!" He pulled out his gun and pointed it at the golden-haired kid in front of him. The woman behind him suddenly spoke up, pleading. "Listen kid, I think you should just walk away. There is no reason for both you and me to get hurt." She gulped. "I'll be okay. Don't worry about me."

The hero decided that it was time to speak. Putting on his best hero voice he said, "Behold foul cretin, my presence here indicates that your days of crime are over! Now please, put down your gun and give yourself up." The "up" was punctuated with Gohan angling his arms so that his elbows pointed away from him, while his fingers pointed down towards his head. _I look so cool! I bet that this guy will run away from me scared!_

The man looked at Gohan like he was crazy. "Uh, listen son, I was going to shoot you but now I am just concerned for your health. Did you escape from the asylum?"

"What? No! I'm not crazy! Now put your gun down or I'll have to make you put it down." The man regained his wits rather quickly. "Ah, you're just stupid then. Now I'm about to shoot. Last chance to leave."

_Ugh. What should I do? If I move I risk the bullet hitting the woman. But if he shoots he could severely hurt me, even kill me… Did I make the wrong choice?_

"Not going to move eh? Fine!" The man pulled the trigger and the shot rang out. Gohan made his choice and stood his ground. The woman behind him screamed. After a moment Gohan looked down at his stomach to assess the damage. The bullet had hit him but, it only left a small spot of blood on his stomach. _ It reminds me of when I scraped my knee as a child. Huh. It appears that I am mostly bulletproof. _He returned his attention to the man in front of him who was staring at the bullet laying on the ground and shaking.

Gohan regained his hero composure. "Now evil villain! Do you see that your machinations are futile? Desist!"

The man listened to Gohan speak and then gulped. "Repointing the gun at Gohan he took another desperate shot at him. The mighty hero was prepared for this however and with his super reflexes, grabbed out of the air and lightly dropped it on the ground. Gohan looked at the man, daring him to try again.

The man finally came to his senses and dropped the gun on the ground and put his hands behind his head. "I-I give up." Gohan smiled and then walked over to the gun and kicked it over in the direction of the woman. He then turned to the man and gave him a fierce stare.

The man started crying.

_Okay. Okay. Too much then._ Turning to the woman he asked her, "Good citizen! Would you be so kind as to inform the police of this! I must be leaving. My mom will kill me if I'm out past curfew. I-I mean-" Gohan rebounded, flustered at his slipup. "-I hear another crime going on in the distance! I must be off!" he said, before jumping up on top of the nearest building. _I'm really glad that worked! It would have been embarrassing if I slipped or something. It seems my jumping ability is much higher as well. Being able to do this just feels so natural. _

He then set off in the direction of his house. Jumping across rooftops until he reached his own when he jumped down in an inconspicuous area, powered down and almost walked into his building before he realized something. _I left my backpack behind…_

* * *

_Man this week feels like it has been a lifetime. _Gohan was eating lunch with his friends who were talking about their plans for the first weekend of the school year. Even though school had just been going on for a week, it still did not damper any student's excitement for the weekend. Erasa had suggested shopping with Videl on Saturday, to cash in on after new school year savings. Videl had protested, saying she'd rather train at home, but Erasa kept pressing her to go with her. 'You're not going to train the whole day are you?' 'Well no, but…' Videl had eventually caved in to her best friend. Sharpner had planned on going to a boxing match late Saturday evening with some of his friends.

Gohan had hoped that they wouldn't ask him, because he would have to make some kind of excuse. If there was one thing Chi-Chi hated, it was lying. He hated lying. He intended to go shopping as well, but only to find some kind of disguise that he could wear while doing his hero thing. After all, he wanted to keep his identity safe from people, so that nobody could target his family or friends. He would never forgive himself if someone he loved died from his mistake.

"So Gohan, what were you going to do this weekend?" Gohan left his thoughts to see Erasa looking at him. _Well, so much for that._ "Well, uh, I don't know. Maybe hang out with my brother, since I've been pretty busy this week."

"I didn't know that you had a brother. How old is he?" Videl inquired.

"Uh, he is 14. He's in the last grade of middle school."

"Aw, I bet he's adorable!" Erasa gushed. "How about you two join me and Videl tomorrow? You get to hang out with each other and us!" Videl had a pained look on her face, like she was looking at a doomed man.

Gohan wanted to say no, but couldn't think of any legitimate excuse. _I guess I'll just have to shop earlier, or shop on Sunday._ "If Goten says yes, then I guess it's okay," he said reluctantly.

"Awesome! It will be so fun. It'll be the first time we hung out outside of school. That gym doesn't count because Videl pretty much lives there sometimes."

"Do you Videl?" Gohan looked to the black-haired girl. "Do your parents mind that you spend so much time there?" Videl seemed to clam up at the question, "My _dad _doesn't care usually. It's complicated." Realizing he had struck a nerve Gohan immediately back-tracked. "Sorry. I didn't mean to say something to upset you."

Videl shook her head. "It's okay Gohan. Don't worry about it." Sharpner sensed the need to change the conversation, so he turned to Gohan. "Yo Brains, we still practicing again after school?" Gohan frowned at the nickname but still answered. "Yeah, I'm still planning on it."

"Cool, we'll just meet up at BO then."

Gohan smiled. "Sounds good." Sharpner smirked at the inside joke.

The girls had been watching the interaction, and Erasa broke up the light bromance. "So Gohan you know where the outlet mall is near here right? Over by the baseball stadium?" Gohan nodded. "I think I've seen it."

"Good then we'll meet at the food court around 2. Does that work?"

Gohan let out an internal sigh of relief. _That will give me time to pick out some disguises to wear. The only problem is that Goten will be with me. But, if there is anyone I want to tell about my plan, it's him. _"Yes, that will work for me."

"Sweet."

Videl who had been silent suddenly spoke up. "We should buy you a cell phone. Even if it's just a prepaid one. I don't like the idea of you walking around the city without one." Gohan smirked. "Don't worry _mom_ I can take care of myself."

Sharpner had to hold Videl back from whacking Gohan.

* * *

This was one of the times that Sharpner hated his long hair. He was in the locker room at Bleed Orange changing in the locker room. During strenuous exercise, his hair just became soaked with sweat and became disgusting until he could take a shower. Unfortunately, putting his hair in a ponytail would emasculate him. Taking off his sweaty shirt, he grimaced when he felt pain in his abdominal.

The two friends had just finished beating each other to a pulp. They had started off with a few rounds of boxing, but Sharpner had seemed to realize Gohan's discomfort at only using his arms to fight. They had taken a break, then switched over to mixed marital arts rules. Sharpner had realized that Gohan was a much more comfortable and proficient fighter when he could use his whole body to attack. Sharpner was a much better boxer than Gohan, having gotten used to the sport over time, but Gohan, after slowly remembering everything his father had taught him had become a terror during the second round.

The blond fighter had thought that he was good at fighting with his full body, but he figured that Gohan would be able to take on Videl soon enough. That alone made him feel horrified and weak. He hated feeling weak. He thought that he had put that emotion past him. He was so wrapped up in the past that he didn't hear Gohan walking back into the locker room after taking a shower.

"So Sharpner do you know any-" Gohan began to say but was cut off upon seeing a mark on the middle of his friend's chest. The mark was a red shark, but upon closer inspection, the shark had an "X" on it. The "X" was not made of ink, but it appeared to be made with scar tissue. Sharpner realized his blunder and covered up the mark with his hand, but the look on Gohan's face told him what he needed to know. The boxer sighed and began to feel dejected, feeling that his friendship with the strange guy was over.

Gohan regained his composer and asked weakly, "Sharpner… Are you a Red Shark member?"

Sharpner looked back at Gohan and decided that he should at least know the truth. "I joined the Red Shark Gang when I was really young. My mother had just left my dad. After she left my dad hit the bottle pretty hard… He was never that great at finances either. Money became an issue for us; my dad, me, and my older sister. One day he hit my sister, made her cry, and I decided to take action. I didn't want to get involved in the foster system, and our mother was MIA, so I talked with some people that I knew, and joined the Sharks."

Sharpner sat down on a bench and continued. "It was just to help my sister. With the Sharks I figured that I could make some money and so me and sister could live away from him. Eventually, I came to my senses and went to the police to rat on them in exchange for amnesty. I still regret everything to this day…"

"So I understand if you don't want to associate with me, a criminal, but-"

Gohan interrupted him, "Do you know any good places to eat around here?"

"What?"

"Do you know any good places to eat around here? My mother's working late as a waitress, so my brother and I have to get dinner somewhere."

Sharpner looked at Gohan, stunned, "You mean that, you don't care that I… That I was a part of the group who attacked you?"

"Look Sharpner, I guess I should care, but I don't. My mom tells me that my dad was a man who gave second chances. So I guess that I want to do the same. You didn't attack me, someone else did. You obviously regret your decision, so I won't hold it against you." Gohan scratched his head. "I guess that's it…"

Sharpner looked at his friend, relieved. "Thanks man. That really means a lot."

The black-haired boy looked at his friend. "Don't mention it." He started slowly, "So, do you know any good places to eat around here?"

* * *

Goten patted his stomach and said, "Man Gohan, that was delicious! I have never had a better burger." Gohan had to agree. Sharpner had pointed them to a hole-in-the-wall burger joint a few blocks away from the Son's apartment. Upon paying their tab, Gohan had mentioned Sharpner's name to Goten, and the manager gave them a discount. 'That boy and his boxing friends are keeping me in business! Take a discount!'

The Son boys were now walking back to their place in the fading light of Orange Star City, while the traffic was starting to lighten up at the end of rush hour. While they waited in front of a crosswalk for the 'Cross' sign to come on, Gohan suddenly remembered that he had a question for his brother.

"Oh yeah, Goten." Goten looked up at his brother. "Yeah, what's up?" Gohan motioned to the light, which had turned to the 'Cross' sign, and the two began to walk down the final street to their building. "So my friends and I were going to go shopping tomorrow around two. Do you want to come?" Goten's eyes lit up. "Yeah, I mean-wait a second. I wanted to ask Mom if my friend Trunks could come over. If he can't then I guess I can go."

"Guess that we will have to wait until Mom gets home then." They had arrived at the door to their apartment and were both fishing around their pockets for their keys. Goten got to his first. He started to unlock it but frowned. "It's already unlocked." Pushing it open, they saw their mom sitting at the counter holding her head.

Goten cocked his head, "Hey mom, we didn't expect cha' home yet. What's up?"

Chi-Chi shook her head and said, "Oh, boys… I'm sorry to tell you this, but I've lost my job."

Gohan was alarmed, "What? Why?" Chi-Chi scowled. "Some young blond applied for the job, and the perverted manager gave her my job." Her expression softened. "But don't worry boys, it'll be okay."

Goten looked worried and Gohan affirmed her statement to his brother. Goten picked up a little bit and then back to his normal perky self. "Oh, yeah! Mom? Can my friend Trunks come over tomorrow?" Chi-Chi bit her lip and said, "Goten, honey… Not tomorrow. Maybe another day…" Goten looked sad until Gohan reminded him, "It's okay Goten. Now you get to come with me tomorrow. Right?" Gohan explained his plans to his mother and she agreed.

Gohan and Goten then retired to their bedroom and Gohan closed the door. He then turned to his brother, "Okay Goten? Remember that thing that happened Monday? With the hair?" Goten nodded, his eyes widening. "Well I figured out how to do it." Goten jumped up. "That's awesome! Do it" Gohan nodded, then called upon his power. Closing his eyes he waited until he felt power build up and then opened his eyes to see Goten's stunned face.

"Wow! You did it!" Goten scrunched his face. "What are you doing?" Gohan had to shrug. "I don't really know. Your guess is as good as mine."

"Well what can you do?" Gohan smiled and then disappeared from Goten's vision. Goten looked around the room frantically until he saw his brother laying on the bed. The middle-school exclaimed, "You can teleport! That's awesome!" Gohan chuckled and said, "Not teleport. I'm just really fast." Goten actually looked disappointed at that.

"But look at this!" Gohan jumped off the bed, crawled under it, and lifted it over his head. "Well, impressed now?" Goten just nodded.

Putting it down quietly the super teenager said, "So here's the thing. I really think that I can help people with this. But I don't want to endanger you or mom. So we are going to the mall earlier to find some things to use as a disguise."

"So we are going to buy a superhero costume! That's awesome," Goten exclaimed. His brother winced, "I don't know about a superhero costume. Just some clothing I can change into quickly if I need to." Goten looked upset, but then his face lit up. "Wait, what if I can do that too?" Gohan looked thoughtful, "Well you may be able to but, I don't know…"

The younger boy looked happy. "I wonder how we can do this thing." _It seems that he has already decided that he can transform too._ "Maybe we are descendants of ancient shamans! Or like, part robot! Or maybe dad's was an alien!"

Gohan chuckled and powered down. "Don't be ridiculous Squirt."

"Quit calling me that!"

* * *

"Your costume isn't cool at all," Goten complained as they exited the store. Gohan signed, "I told you, it's not a superhero costume. It's just something to hide my identity." The two Son brothers had gotten to the mall as soon as it opened to have maximum time to find a disguise for Gohan. After a few dead ends they managed to find a jackpot in the form of a thrift store. Gohan had a bought tight, black, long-sleeved shirt and matching pants there. He also found a green piece of clothing that resembled a tunic. He figured that the black clothes would be easy enough to conceal underneath his real clothes, if needed. He wasn't sure what to do with the tunic. He just thought it looked cool.

"Let's see… I think that Erasa wanted to meet in front of that large department store." Gohan thought out loud as the boys walked around the mall. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something interesting in the window of a shop. Looking at it he saw an orange motorcycle helmet, with a dark visor, and a black top. "That looks awesome," the color-blind teenager stated to his brother, who just scowled. Goten thought to himself. _If Gohan buys that thing, I don't think anyone will take him seriously. I've got to do something. _

"Uh Gohan, that's way too expensive for you and you won't be able to buy that now anyway. You can't carry it around with your friends coming." Gohan figured that his brother was right. "I'll be back for that someday." _And I'll break it,_ Goten thought to himself.

The two boys continued walking towards the store until Gohan noticed his friends in the distance. He gave them a wave and Erasa's eyes lit up upon seeing him. Videl just nodded.

"Hey guys!" Erasa exclaimed. "So this must be your brother. What's your name?" Goten introduced himself. "It's nice to meet you Goten, my name's Erasa, and the girl over here is named Videl."

Goten, staring up at Erasa said, "You're really pretty." Erasa blushed and said, "Ah, you're so sweet!" Videl looked over at Goten as if expecting him to say the same to her. He saw her looking and stated bluntly, "You just look mean." Videl turned red in the face and started glaring daggers at the 14-year-old. "Why you! Why would you say something like that to a lady!? How do I look mean?"

Gohan blushing on behalf of his brother tried to contain the damage, "I'm sorry Videl. I'm sure he didn't mean it like that." Goten, ever the help, then said, "Now you look meaner." Videl tried her best to kill the kid with her glare.

Erasa and Gohan both decided to try and usher the party into the store without any casualties. It was somewhere around the fourth "cute" skirt that Videl noticed the bag in Gohan's hand. "Hey Gohan, what's in the bag?" Gohan gulped realizing that he hadn't thought up an excuse. "It's, um, some clothes that I needed for, things…"

"Like what?"

"Uh, guy things."

Videl turned a bit red and said, "Oh I get it. Sorry."

"Hey Videl does this skirt look cute?"

And so the afternoon went. Erasa went from store to store looking for something to buy while the other three dragged each other behind. Videl managed to get the party into an athletic oriented clothing store, which Gohan found a little bit interesting too. At Videl's insistence, they went by a phone store and got both Son boys cell phones. While they were only cheap, pre-paid cell phones, Videl insisted that they could be tremendous help. "Now you can call for help if you need it," she had stated.

The next store they visited was a hat store and while Gohan was looking around, he heard Goten snicker from across the room, but didn't pay it any attention. As they were leaving the room, Gohan finally figured out what was funny when Goten said, "So Gohan, which one is your girlfriend?" Gohan, utterly surprised, couldn't manage to say anything. Erasa started giggling furiously while Videl just stared at the kid. "So are they both, then?'

Gohan decided to find some way to get revenge on the kid. It would be sweet.

The party eventually got hungry and headed to the food court to get something to eat. They had just finished their dinner when Erasa expressed her desire to get ice cream. Goten had seconded that notion and the two were standing in line. Which left Gohan alone with Videl. _Come to think of it, this is the first time that I've ever been one-on-one with Videl._ Clearing his throat Gohan told Videl, "So what my brother said earlier… I don't think he meant it. I think everything that he has said has just been to mess with me."

Videl swallowed her food and looked over at Gohan, "Oh… You think so? I've never had a sibling, so I can't tell when one is messing with the other. Erasa's sisters drive me crazy with all of that."

Gohan nodded and continued again. "So I don't think Goten meant it when he didn't say that you looked pretty." Videl nodded. "So what makes you say that?" Gohan's mouth went dry and some red rose on his cheeks.

_Well… It's because I think that she's pretty. But why can't I say that? _Videl was waiting for the answer, but realized what his silence meant and started to blush. Both teenagers became preoccupied with the floor until the other two graciously came back from getting ice cream. Erasa was giggling. "Oh Gohan, you'll never guess the stories Goten told me from when you were a child."

_I am going to kill that runt._

* * *

Erasa and Videl were on their way back to their houses after splitting up with the two boys. Walking on the sidewalk both girls were reflecting on the day. Erasa asked her friend, "Goten's such a cutie isn't he?" Videl just rolled her eyes. "Adorable." Unfortunately both girls were oblivious of the danger that awaited them. Neither noticed the car moving a bit too slowly on the lane beside them.

On the other side the Son boys were heading back to their apartment, joking and talking to each other. Goten reached into his pocket and pulled out some money. "Oh, yeah, here's the money that you gave me for ice cream." Gohan took it and frowned. "Wait, then how did you buy the ice cream?" Goten shrugged, "Erasa bought it for me." Gohan didn't know whether to be proud or horrified.

His thought process was interrupted by someone screaming his name. "Gohan!" He turned to see Erasa running to him. "Erasa, what's wrong? Where's Videl?" Erasa, panting, managed to say, "Videl's been kidnapped!"

Gohan felt terror descend on him. "Kidnapped? By who?"

"Th-This-" Erasa was trying to speak while crying. "This car just pulled up beside us, grabbed her, an-and took her!"

"Have you called the police?"

"My phone won't work. I think the lines are dead somehow."

Gohan tried his and Goten's cell phones. Neither worked. Gohan tried to think of the next best idea. "Come on, let's go to the police station."

Erasa nodded and then headed off in a direction. Gohan looked back at his brother. "Goten, go home okay? Tell mom what's going on. You're the man of the house right now." Goten had initially looked dejected about being left out but puckered up upon hearing the last bit. "You got it," he stated with poise.

Erasa had run in front of Gohan with surprising endurance, as she led him to the building. After running a few blocks she turned and yelled, "There, the building is right there!" Gohan saw her pointing to a building on the other side of the street. It was a large building, built with bricks and concrete with large glass windows scattered around it, indicating that its latest design was fairly new. The two ran/jumped up the concrete stairs leading to the door and Gohan forced it open. It opened to a large waiting room and Gohan could see the receptionist jump slightly at the sudden intrusion.

"Excuse me, but what do you kids want?" She asked, slightly peeved at being scared.

Erasa took charge. "We need to speak to Mr. Satan. It's urgent!" The receptionist leaned back in her chair and stated, "I can't just let you in to randomly speak to the police chief. Now do you want to report a crime or-" Erasa interrupted her by grabbing Gohan and saying, "Come on. I know where his office is." They burst through a door, seeing stunned policeman (and policewomen) and ran up a flight of steps. Turning down a hallway they pushed open the door at the end of hallway that had "Hercule Satan- Police Chief" written on it.

They opened it to see a group of people standing over a map, with Hercule standing in the middle. Gohan felt himself to be grabbed from behind by policeman who had caught up with them. He looked over to see Erasa in the same position as him. One of the men standing with the chief said, "Hey! What the heck are you kids doing in here?" The men started to drag them out, until Hercule stood up and exclaimed, "Wait! Erasa is that you?" The blond nodded. "Yes it's me. We have something important to tell you!"

Hercule ordered the policeman to release them. "What is it? Where is Videl?" He asked while studying the boy beside her. Erasa started to cry again. "That's just it! Videl was kidnapped while we were walking home."

The single father had to be helped down into his seat by his men. His face held utter disbelief, but he quickly recomposed himself as best as he could for his men. "So that also has happened…" He turned to the teenagers. "I am going to be honest to you two. There has been a simultaneous attack on our city by criminals. One bank is being robbed on Main Street, another on Congress Street, and we have also received a tip that the power plant is also being attacked by criminals, to probably cause even more panic. In addition, as I'm sure that you know, the phone lines are down, probably caused by the same entities in the other situations. I suspect the Red Shark Gang." Looking at the faces of the policeman they obviously disagreed.

"And now my baby girl is kidnapped…" He added slowly. The room went silent, until the phone rang. "How…?" One policeman asked to no one. Hercule didn't bother. He walked over to the phone and picked it up, putting it on speaker. "Hello?"

"Hello Hercule Satan. I believe that the Red Sharks have found something of yours." A messed a voice responded, which indicated a voice alteration. Hercule caught the implication. "Videl! Is my girl there?" The voice laughed. "Yes she is! Say "Hi" honey." A pause. "I told you to say something!" A dull sound then came from the phone. The sound of flesh hitting flesh. A grunt of pain came from the phone, which Gohan remembered from the gym as Videl's.

The father jumped at sound. "Okay! Stop! What are your demands?" The voice laughed again. "As clique as it is, we want money. We'll settle for about 50 million zeni. How about that girlie? Think you're worth that much." A pause. "Ooh scary."

"Have the money ready by midnight. We will exchange on the 500 highway, by the rest stop. Oh, and one more thing, no police intervention, or the girl gets hurt." The voice hung up. Hercule had to sit back down. "The government of this city prevents any negotiation with terrorists… But that much money… I can't bring that out of my own pocket by then." He put his head in his hands. "Why? Why is this all happening now?" One of the policeman tried to comfort him. "I'm sure the Mayor will lift the ban this time Chief." Hercule chocked back a sob. "And then what? How many other gangs will try this now that it works the first time? The police force is already spread out thin right now. With the Orange Star Bandits playing and the police acting on traffic duty, and the robberies, the power plant being threatened…"

"The East and South side stations don't even have enough ammunition to arm their men. And the other stations don't have vehicles ready. The Red Sharks are obviously behind the other robberies and the threatening of the power plant. I don't know what can be done. We need a miracle."

Gohan had been listening intently through the entire discussion. The word "miracle" had sparked something in him. He knew that he had to do something, but what? He didn't know where the Red Sharks had Videl? He didn't know anything about them. Is this it? One of the first times that he wants to protect someone and he can't. Was he really that useless?

There was only one string that he could pull. While he didn't know anything about the Red Sharks, he knew someone that did.

**AN:**

**So tell me what you think. If you have any questions, just ask. I know that there are a lot of differences between this story and cannon. **


	4. Blood in the Water

Chapter 4: Blood in the Water

**AN: One reviewer asked if I could go into detail on the events that preceded this story. I'll just say this. If a villain hasn't been mentioned yet, he hasn't been fought yet. Some details on the AU will be gone into depth in the next chapter. In addition, to level the playing field, no hero or villain will be nearly powerful enough to just blow up a planet. Most of them have had changes to their abilities. Gohan himself isn't as strong as he is in cannon. This has been done so people don't worry about respective power levels and so everything fits toward the American Comic Book theme. **

Gohan stood on the roof of a building powered up in his black suit. He had stashed his other clothes under a trash can in a nearby alley. They'd probably need a thorough cleaning afterwards, but Gohan wasn't concerned with his clothes right now. All he was focusing on was finding Sharpner. He had run a few courses of action through his mind after running out of the police station, and the best course of action seemed to be the one that he ultimately decided to do. He was a bit nervous about the plan, which was understandable, as he had never interrogated anyone.

The plan was to talk to Sharpner as the golden-haired man, and see if he could figure out any information from him. He couldn't talk to Sharpner as Gohan, because Gohan could not logically get from the police station to Sharpner and back again quickly enough. So the golden-haired man would have to corner his friend.

After figuring out where the boxing match was and remembering where Sharpner had said he lived, Gohan had gone to a place where he could split the difference. He knew Sharpner was in the area, but he couldn't figure out where… or how he knew that. Looking around in the fading light, Gohan strained his eyes to find the familiar blond. He finally spotted him walking on the street alone. _Odd. I thought he'd be with his boxing friends. I guess it makes this easier then._

Jumping on to the nearest building, Gohan waited until Sharpner was walking past an alley where no other people were could see and quickly jumped down and threw Sharpner into the alley. He may have been a bit rougher than he intended. Sharpner quickly regained his wits and stood up and assumed a fighting stance, while watching the man radiating light walk toward him.

The natural blond spoke first. "What the heck do you want, punk?" He spat toward Gohan. The golden-haired teenager did his best scowl and said, "Red Shark Gang. I need information about their hideouts. It's important." Sharpner scoffed. "You must have a death wish, to mess with me and the Red Sharks. Besides, I haven't been apart of them for years. Find someone else to mess with."

Gohan realized that he had to change tactics. "Listen," he said, softening his voice, "Videl Satan has been kidnapped by the Red Sharks. I need you to tell me if you know anywhere they could have took her." Sharpner looked like he had been kicked in the groin. "What, Videl? No way…" Gohan gave him a moment to process the news. After regaining his composer Sharpner said, "Listen, after I came clean all those years ago, the police busted every place that I told them about. I can't help you…"

Gohan sighed, upset. _It seems I won't be able to do anything._ He turned around to leave before saying, "Sorry." He was about to jump, until Sharpner said, "Wait! There is one place that they were talking about using but never did. It's this place called The Spinning Dragon, on 10th street. You can check there." Gohan felt his heart pound from discovering a clue. _That's close to where she was taken._ Gohan offered the other boy a smile. "Thanks. I'll save her." He then jumped up on top of the building, leaving Sharpner dumbfounded.

Jumping from building to building, he dodged the traffic moving under him, which was worse than usual, due to the events of the night and reached the roof on the police station, before jumping down.

For the second time that day, the receptionist was startled by the door opening quickly. This time however, it was one person moving faster than she thought that was possible for a human. Racing up to Hercule's room, Gohan quickly opened his door and looked in to see the man he was looking for staring at him. One of the policeman reached for his gun, but Gohan spoke faster. "Chief Satan, I have information on your daughter."

Satan mentioned for the policeman to put his gun away before addressing the blond-haired teenager. "Who are you? And what do you know?" Gohan blinked before responding, "My identity is not important right now. Your daughter is being held in a place called the Spinning Dragon. I interrogated a former Red Shark member who believes it to be a hideout."

Hercule studied the intruder. "Even if you are right, how can we trust you?" Gohan paused before saying, "Because you have no other choice." Hercule nodded before saying, "Sounds about right. Commander Michael, get Commander Gabriel and two other men of your choice to suit up for a possible firefight. We are going to save my daughter." Michael responded, "Sir, are you sure that we can trust this-"

"Commander, now."

Michael saluted before leaving the room. Hercule turned to the boy and said, "Thank you son, if this turns out to be true, I'll give you a medal. Go ahead and go home now." Gohan smiled before saying, "Sorry sir, but I'm going with you." Hercule shook his head before saying, "No you are not. Now thank you for this information but-" Gohan interrupted him by speeding to another officer, taking his gun, and in sight of the officers, shot himself in the chest. The policeman were about to panic until they saw the bullet land on the ground, and the spot where it hit the boy turn red. The bullet only managed to turn his skin a bright red.

Hercule managed to spit out, "What the…" before Michael entered back in to tell the chief that preparations were complete. Gohan nodded to Hercule saying, "I'll go on ahead and scout out the area. See you there." He then sped out the room, leaving the men stunned. Hercule shook himself out of his stupor. Talking to his men he said, "Come on. We have got to move."

* * *

Piran was ecstatic, for a man who was rarely ecstatic. Hercule had received the information on his daughter, and was undoubtedly focusing his undivided attention on her. The other officers were dealing with the bank robberies in the area, where the robberies were designed to stall for time. Money was a plus. Other officers were being called to the power plant, where Piran had tipped them to go to stall even more time. He figured that all of these devices would keep the attention away from the people who were jamming the phone signals.

The leader of the Sharks was currently riding in the back of a car on the way to his ultimate objective, the Mayor's office. _The Dragon Balls had been an heirloom for years, being passed from the family in power to the next for years. In the era of democracy, they then became property of the local government, and were left in the Mayor's office, their true power lost in memory. _No one will ever suspect that the Red Shark Gang's ultimate objective resided in some glass case in the Mayor's office.

Piran waited until the door was opened for him, and stepped outside to join his other three men who would be joining him in taking the building. They all stepped up the marble steps, guns at the ready, and entered the building. Piran had called ahead to the building and impersonated a police officer, to tell the Mayor that his life was in danger, and needed to stay in the building. If the Dragon Balls were hidden, Mayor Furry would know where they were.

The security guards in the building were prepared for the intrusion, but were not nearly experienced enough to deal with his men. The Sharks left their bodies on the ground. Thus began the Red Shark's ascent to glory.

* * *

Sharpner watched his aggressor jump on to a building in awe. _What the heck? What the actual heck? Did that guy just do that, or did I hit my head when he threw me?_ Sitting down, Sharpner took in what was happening. _Videl has been kidnapped… By the Red Sharks… _Even though it was illogical, Sharpner still felt like he was at fault for what was happening. _I can't believe that I used to work for those guys. _

Sharpner decided to get up and start to walk to the police station, as he figured that guy would bring her back there. _You better not get hurt Videl… I still owe you for what happened back then…_

_A 13-year old Sharpner stood in front of a liquor store that had closed for the night. He checked around the street for people, and didn't see any, as even OSC quieted down at two in the morning. Reaching in to his pocket, he pulled out a piece of metal that he could pick the lock in front of him. After jumbling around for a bit, he eventually succeeded, and walked into the store. He pulled out the of alcohol list that Minnow had ordered him to steal for him. _

_The thief looked around for each bottle that he needed and put them in plastic bags that he also stole from the store. As he was leaving, he was knocked down suddenly. Looking up he saw a girl about his age standing over him looking triumphant. She exclaimed, "I knew that you were up to no good. I knew that you were a Red Shark member!" Sharpner spat on the floor before saying, "Well whoop-te-do. Now what are you going to do? There's no way your parents want you wandering the street anyway. Just go back home and I won't hurt you." _

_The girl seemed to stiffen up and then wiped her eyes. "What do you care about my parents? After all it was you Red Sharks that killed my mom."_

'_Her mom?' Sharpner thought to himself. Then it hit him. 'Wait a minute. This is Videl Satan, the police chief's daughter. He knew her from school. Her mom was killed at a crime scene when she was hit by a stray bullet. She was just checking on her husband…' The higher ups had been pissed that her death put them on Satan's most wanted list._

_Videl spoke to him again in his silence. "Since you guys killed my mom… Then-then I'm going to k-kill you," she whimpered, picking up a bottle and holding it up to attack. She then promptly burst into tears. There was several things that Sharpner was prepared for, but that wasn't one of them. Despite himself, Sharpner found himself trying to comfort the girl. He understood what it was like to lose a mother. _

_Videl sniffed a few times and looked at the boy, "Why? Why did you guys do it?" Sharpner found himself at a loss for words, and despite himself, he started to cry as well. He said, between tears, "Listen, I'm j-just doing this for my-my sister. Okay? I don't want to. I don't want to do this… I'm just scared of my father." The two sat on the floor and cried for a few minutes. Sharpner then sat up and said, "I've decided. I'm going to the police tomorrow and am going to tell them everything I know about the Red Sharks!" _

"_Really?"_

"_Yeah." Sharpner looked around and then went behind the counter to find a knife that the owner had for emergencies. "This is how I'm going to prove it to you."_

Sharpner felt his chest ache from the memory. _Videl, you saved my life that day. Don't you dare die before I can repay you._

* * *

The OSPD arrived at the Spinning Dragon, red and blue lights flashing. The men stepped out of the car, checked their guns, and waited for the orders for the chief. Hercule checked the surroundings. _No sign of any trap so far. _Giving the sign to his men, they prepared to enter the building. They were stopped by the golden-haired man jumping down from a nearby building, startling all of them. Smiling he said, "What took you so long?" Hercule grunted before motioning to his again to enter the building. Gabriel opened the door and another officer announced their presence.

The owners of the store, a young man and an older woman, were obviously fearful at their intrusion. The young man said, "What is this about, officer?" The chief walked into building and said, "We have reason to believe that a woman is being held hostage here. We are going to search the place." The young man started to perspire and said, "Do you have a warrant? We don't have to consent to a search without one." Hercule smiled before saying, "Probable cause. Testimony by one of the members of the gang in question." Gohan smiled at the chief. _Not the full story, but the situation is dire. _

So the men began to comb the store, which sold a bunch of what looked to be foreign crafts and the like. Gohan assisted in the search.

After a period of time, Hercule felt like giving up. The back of the building had no information in it. Nothing else around the building gave any answers. Hercule gave orders to his men to retreat. _It seems that this boy was severely misinformed. _Gohan, upon hearing the orders got angry. "No. She's here. I just know somehow."

Hercule looked back at the teenager. "Listen son. I'm already restraining myself from smacking you from sending us on this wild goose chase. Just pack it up." Gohan's eyes narrowed. _I know that she is here. I can sense her, or something. There has to be something around there that I can use. _He then looked over to the young man running the store. It was only for a second, but Gohan saw the man's eyes look toward a bookcase. Gohan walked over to it and saw scuff marks on the floor. _Here it is._

With a yell, Gohan picked up the bookcase and moved it out of the way. It had been covering up a hole in the wall, which seemed to go down into the ground. The policeman looked on stunned at his strength and ingenuity. Gohan simply said, "Let's check down here."

* * *

The Sharks had found the mayor hiding in what seemed to be a makeshift bunker. Giving his men orders to guard the perimeter, Piran examined the mayor. Mayor Furry was a short man with a balding head and a large mustache. He wore thin glasses on his face which had turned wet from perspiration. Piran sat down in the mayor's chair before asking, "So Mayor, how has your day been?"

Furry looked at the man before saying, "Was that supposed to be some sort of joke?" Piran chuckled before replying, "Perhaps. But let us get the point at hand." Furry quickly interjected, "If it is money that you are after, you won't get it from the government. No negotiations with terrorists." Piran smiled. "I don't want money from you. I will be getting plenty of it from my other operations. No, what I want…" He leaned forward in the chair. "… is the Dragon Balls."

Furry looked at him surprised before saying, "What do you want with heirlooms? They don't have any resell value!" Piran smiled at him. "Don't play coy. You know exactly what they do. What their true value is." Furry gulped. "Then you know…"

"Oh yes. I know. So if you will be so kind as to tell me where they are hidden, so I can get on with my day." Furry glared at the man before stating, "If you think that you had a chance to get me to tell you where they are before, then you should know that you have no chance now." Piran smiled before smugly saying, "Oh, I believe that you will talk soon enough."

* * *

Commander Michael led the policemen and Gohan down the narrow corridor which was held up poorly by rotting wood. After going down about two stories, light peered out from the creases left by a door. Hercule motioned for the policeman to be ready for a firefight. Michael slowly opened the door and recoiled when he heard a gunshot and saw the bullet fly past him, embedding itself in the door frame. Regaining his courage, he peered out again and took a shot at the first thing that he saw that moved to give cover for his fellow comrades.

The other policeman and Gohan used this opportunity to advance from the corridor into the room. Hercule flipped over a nearby table and ducked under it and was joined by other officers. Gohan followed Commander Gabriel to a nearby wall that gave them some cover from their opponents. Without the threat, Gohan was able to survey the room. The Sharks were hiding in an old dusty room with walls of gray stone that was probably used to make illegal drugs. Gohan guessed that it may have used during the Prohibition. The Sharks had made a hasty fort of anything they could find, from boxes to barrels. Gohan could see about four sharks scattered around the area, who were trying to hit the policeman furiously.

Gohan scanned the room for the target as Gabriel and another officer, Apollyon, ducked and fired in a rhythm. He blond couldn't see Videl, but could see a smaller area behind the Sharks that could hold a person. He bided his time to strike, fearing that he could get hit by the gunfire. While he was mostly invincible to bullets, he didn't want to get hit in the eye or any other sensitive body part. While waiting, one of the officers was shot in the arm and the shark seemed to revel in his accomplishment before getting shot by Michael.

The other sharks looked over to check on their fellow member and Gohan immediately saw his chance. Rushing at super speed he rushed behind their makeshift fort and punched a shark in the head, sending him rushing at the wall. One of the sharks shot a bullet at Gohan but he managed to catch it and throw it at back one of the sharks, stunning him. Hercule shot the stunned man in the leg, which sent him tumbling to the ground. Gohan then went to knock out the men who had been shot, while Gabriel managed to shoot the fourth and last member. The policeman waited in the new silence for any hidden men. None made themselves known.

"Where's Videl?" Hercule asked his men. Another Shark then appeared dragging Videl by the hair, her hands tied up behind her back. He quickly said as he placed a gun to her temple, "Don't any of you move, or I shoot her." Put down your guns." At Hercule's reluctant nod, then men followed suit. Gohan studied the scene in front him, trying to figure out a time to strike. _If I move suddenly, he may shoot. I don't want to risk Videl's life testing out my speed. What do I do?_ As he looked for something to do he noticed Videl's face. She didn't appear to be the least bit frightened. In fact, she looked kind of smug.

Without warning, the ropes holding Videl's hands dropped to the ground and left hand shot up in the Shark's blind spot to grab his gun hand to pull it and him in front of her. Her right hand replaced her left, to keep the gun pointed away from anyone, and she landed a left-handed chop to the back of his neck, dazing him. Her mission accomplished, she grabbed the back of the wrist of the man's gun hand with her left and, pressing forward, her right hand snatched the gun from away from the man. She allowed the man to fall down before pointing the gun at him and stating, "Don't move, you creep."

The policeman, besides the chief, all looked at her amazed at her bravery and sheer skill in handling the man. Her father simply ran to her.

"Oh, Videl, I was so worried! I'm so glad you're okay!" He said, as he pulled her into a hug. Videl smiled and returned the favor before becoming serious again. Stepping out of the hug, she told her father, "There's something that I need to tell you. I heard the Sharks talking about going to the mayor's office. I don't know what they want with him."

Hercule became serious again. "The mayor? Do they plan on holding him for ransom as well? That just wouldn't make sense. Can you remember anything else? Anything at all?"

Videl frowned. "Well, one thing. They kept on talking about Dragon Balls. I just kind of assumed it was a dirty joke, or at best a code word." Her father's face turned grim. "The Dragon Balls… How did they learn about them?" He walked away from her. "This is awful… If they get their hands on them, our city- no our world- is over."

Gohan, who had been observing the scene with mild amusement at Videl's escape, decided to speak. "Dragon Balls? What do these do? Some kind of weapon?" Videl looked at him, seeing him for the first time, and asked, "Who the heck are you?" Looking at his glowing hair she then asked, "…what's with your hair?" Gohan just smiled, glad she didn't recognize him, and said, "No one important."

Hercule decided to answer both of their questions, while his men handcuffed the still conscious man and his comrades. "He is reason that we were able to find you, Videl. And to your question…" He addressed Gohan, "…the Dragon Balls are objects that when gathered together give the user one wish. Anything at all." Gohan looked at Hercule hesitantly. "A wish? Like a genie? That's impossible!" Videl nodded, to share her agreement. The chief looked at Gohan funny. "Impossible? _You _asked me that?"

Gohan just smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. Videl frowned at the interaction, but chose to ask, "So what are we going to do to save the Mayor?" The question brought Hercule back to Earth. "Yes… what to do?" He pondered. After a moment he looked at the shining teenager. "Listen son. I can't believe what I'm about to say, but you are the only one who can there fast enough. Go. If you think you can, go save the Mayor."

Gohan nodded and sped out of the room and on to the street, leaving a bewildered Videl. Stunned, she asked herself, "What the heck was that?" Herucle just smiled, shook his head, and said, "Wish I knew, sweat pea. Probably just some kind of trick." Videl just looked at her father and said under her breath, "Pretty convincing for a trick."

* * *

Back at the Mayor's office, the leader of the Red Sharks was looking at his project. Furry was sitting on the ground in front of him, tied up. He was doing his best to look intimidating, but Piran wasn't buying it. The gang leader wanted a way to find out the location of the Dragon Balls, and he knew that Furry wouldn't give it up from torture. He knew that Furry was a stubborn man, because it was why Piran himself had voted him into office, years before. Piran was a man who enjoyed coincidences.

Without torture, Piran had to come up with another solution for finding the location of the Dragon Balls. It was for this reason that the man had been studying body language for the past few months. The months of planning were finally coming together. The Red Shark finally decided to stand up out of the Mayor's own chair and began pacing around the room, while observing Furry. The short man interestingly enough, did not give up the location by his body. There was no sign of panic anywhere on the man. Piran looked out the window. Furry did not budge. Piran tried one final idea, before moving on to his next set of techniques. He looked up, as if studying the ceiling, and he noticed a subtle change in the Mayor's demeanor. Slight discomfort.

Piran smiled as he located his target. He addressed the man sitting in front of him. "You know what? I think a change of scenery is in order, Mr. Mayor. I would really like some fresh air right now." Furry turned pale upon hearing these words. The Shark called in one of his subordinates to carry the mayor up onto the roof.

The roof of the Mayor's building was often used for the Mayor to give speeches. The door opened up to a marble terrace, with a circular area straight in front of the door for the city government to stand above the public. The door fit into a dome structure straight out of the architecture design of when the city was founded. Piran found himself smiling at the potential symbol that this could have on his plan. _I could be standing here announcing to the world my success._ While the night had turned chilly, Piran wasn't cold at all.

Looking around the area he could see a design carved into the circular area. It was a circular carving, with many colors on the outside, but what really took his interest was the seven stars carved around the center. Feeling around he felt a stone move. _It appears that I have found my Dragon Balls. Though it appears to be locked. There is no space for a key, so perhaps there is a built in trigger mechanism._ Looking back at Furry, Piran snidely asked, "So I guess there is no chance of you telling me the combination?" Furry simply looked at him. "I thought as much."

Piran then began to look at the designs on the ground. While looking for movable parts, he began to speak to Furry. "Well since you aren't being a very gracious host, I'll entertain you with my story. I grew up a simple boy in the city to a family that barely got by on we had. I don't know where you grew up so I'll you. Living on the edge of survival and death gets very difficult. One day, a boy I had grown up with was killed; robbed for the money his mother had gave him for bread."

"I carried the hate for the man that killed my friend in my heart for many years. One day, I had recognized that the hate for one man had multiplied into the hate for mankind. I desired a way to raise my influence from the pitiful state I grew up in. I started the Red Shark Gang with other people I knew that desired money and power, and rode their greed to where I am now. Doing research into the miraculous led me to discover the Dragon Balls. After determining the stories as truth, I am now here to claim my seven wishes."

Furry frowned at the word "seven" but chose to be silent. Piran finally finished examining the puzzle and began to turn pieces around. After a few minutes, he had constructed a design that looked like a dragon circling in a spiral. The last test was the stars. Starting with the one closest to the North, the Red Shark leader began to press them into the ground. The final latch triggered, a circle of concrete loosened, and Piran anxiously removed it. A box sat in there, dusty and unopened. Piran was about to open it with wide eyes, but was interrupted by a flash of light.

* * *

Gohan had taken off from the Spinning Dragon as fast as he could go, in the direction of the Mayor's office. Unfortunately, Gohan was still new to the city and had to back track one time, but had eventually found it. He rushed up the steps and burst into the building. Looking around he saw men and women shot and bleeding on the ground. Pushing off the sickening thoughts that accompanied them, he followed the struggle until he reached a remote room. Seeing no one, Gohan began to panic. _Ok no one's here, so where should I go?_

He then just decided to go to the highest and most intricately designed area. Running up a flight of stairs Gohan came face to face with several men. Classifying them as Sharks, Gohan immediately went into attack mode. He disabled one man with a blow to the head and another was thrown into a wall by a shoulder throw. One reached for his gun but wasn't able to use it when Gohan grabbed it, bent it, and tripped the man. Rendering him unconscious, Gohan then finished off the remaining Sharks.

Seeing a set of double doors, Gohan rushed to them, and threw them open. He confusedly opened it to see nothing. _What the heck where they guarding then?_ Leaving it, he searched around the corridor to find other avenues of escape. Spying another upward staircase centered around several bodies, he entered and sped up them. He entered the door, to finally find his target. Or targets, there was another man besides the Mayor on the roof.

The man was tall, with slicked back black hair. He wore a loose gray suit and shiny dress shoes. Gohan had honestly been expecting a thug. He instead found himself face to face with who he assumed was the leader of the Red Sharks. The leader frowned at Gohan and asked, "Who are you? And how did you get past my guards?" Gohan shrugged and said, "They've been taken care of. And now I'm going to have to ask you to stand down. I'm here to free the Mayor."

Piran smiled and sneered, "I don't know how you got past my men, but I'm in the middle of something right now." He quickly pulled out a pistol from his pocket and shot at Gohan without a word. Gohan let the bullet hit his shoulder, and watched the man's face as it fell to the ground. Piran believed that he had seen all that the world had to offer, until he saw a bulletproof teenager with glowing hair stand before him. _What is this kid? Is he wearing bulletproof armor? If so it's skin tight._ Upon closer inspection, Piran saw where he shot the kid, and saw a hole in his black shirt along with a red mark to indicate slight damage.

_It seems that he isn't fully bulletproof. Maybe if I were to use that._ Gohan was staring at the Shark and waiting for his surrender. When it never came Gohan proudly said, "Now that you understand my power foul villain, put your gun down, and your make your hands point towards the heavens." Piran smiled, to Gohan's chagrin, and did what the teenager said, placing his gun at his feet. Seeing that action Gohan walked to the Mayor, who was shocked at the things that he had seen today. Furry was only able so say, "Thank you son…" Gohan smiled before turning back to Piran. "I don't believe you heard me. Hands in the air." Piran smirked before raising his right arm in the air.

People said that Piran was a careful man. Too careful, they sometimes claimed. Needs to have more than enough pieces in play to win. However, Piran was proving them wrong at this moment. When he had given the orders for the driver of his car to get on top of a nearby building and to scan the area for threats with a sniper rifle, his men had expressed displeasure at sure an unnecessary gesture, but had not said anything. He was certain that they would still be silent after today. The final piece of information was the signal to the sniper to take out targets. It was for Piran to raise his right arm in the air.

From across the street a shot rang out and Gohan, not expecting any kind of attack, was only able to move slightly to allow the bullet to pierce the spot between his left shoulder and chest. Looking in shock, Gohan saw blood dripping down from his body, the bullet firmly in his lodged in his muscle. Still in shock at his overconfidence he stumbled backwards and tumbled off the balcony.

The Shark just laughed while the Mayor yelled, "Son!" Piran finished laughing and walked back to the balls. _Falling from that height and with that wound, should kill even a bulletproof man. If not, that wound will aggravate tremendously. It's over. _He opened the box, expecting to see seven Dragon Balls staring back at him, but only one remained in the box. Piran roared, "One Dragon Ball! Where are the other six?" The mayor answered back, "Yes, they used to all be located in their homeland, but recent events have scattered them around the planet. You're plan was doomed to fail from the beginning."

Piran growled at the man. "Maybe my plans are delayed some, but the One star ball remain in here. Now, Dragon Ball, grant me my wish! I wish for the ability to conquer all of my enemies!" A few moments passed and nothing happened. Piran looked down at the orb in his hand. "Well is it done? I expected some kind of theatrics."

Another voice became known to the two men. "That's not how it apparently works." Piran shocked at hearing the voice again turned to see the boy who was shot… levitating in the air next to him. Gohan simply responded to the Shark's surprise with a punch to the temple, putting him on the ground. "Those legends were wrong," Furry announced to the Shark. "You need all seven for one wish…" Piran laid on the ground cursing his luck. "I don't believe this! All this preparation! The toil! I had Satan finished, destroyed by his inability to control his men! It's unbelievable."

Gohan looked upon the poor man lying on the ground. He chose to say, "You know, it was one of your men who attacked me, and forced me to obtain this power. If it wasn't for that, I would be at home cowering in a corner. Despite himself, Piran laughed at the statement, before saying, "And here I thought that Satan would be destroyed by not being able to control his men! And here you are, towering over me, telling me that you are here right now, because I couldn't control my own men! It's hilarious!" Piran continued to laugh uncontrollably, until being kicked in the temple by Gohan to quiet him down.

After seeing the battle was over, Gohan felt the pain of his wound take over him, and he fell to the ground. Furry looked at him in panic and managed to drag Gohan down the stairs. Putting him down, he rushed to his office and came back with some supplies. He sat down and turned Gohan so the teenager was lying down and facing the ceiling. "Listen son, I'm going to try and remove the bullet. I used to be a field surgeon before I ran for office. It's going to hurt, but you'll be okay.

Gohan didn't feel okay through the process, but managed to get through it without passing out. When Furry saw that the wound was still bleeding, he made his decision. He pulled a small green colored been out of his pocket and order Gohan to eat it. Gohan was hesitant at first, but after he ate it he started to feel tingly. Observing his wound he slowly saw it closing, until not even the scar tissue remained. Dumbfounded he looked at the Mayor, "What was that?"

"It's some kind of bean. Another man gave it to me a long time ago in case I ever needed it. I decided that if anyone needed it, it was you."

Gohan smiled at his savior, before getting up, feeling his energy returned to him. He thanked the mayor and assumed that the police could take everything from here. Before he could leave Furry quickly yelled at him, "Wait! What should we call you?" Gohan smiled sheepishly, before saying, "I really don't wish to have any name. I would just rather help the world inconspicuously. Is that okay?"

Furry looked at the boy seriously and said, "Listen son, this city doesn't need another shadow running around. It needs…" He looked at Gohan shining hair. "It needs light. It needs somebody working out in the open. Boy, I think you have what it takes to save this city. I will not force you, but please reconsider."

And Gohan did. He had seen firsthand at some of the things that this city had done to people. Innocent people. He thought for a moment and decided. However, one thing still remained. _Who am I? What am I?_ Gohan had asked himself these questions many times recently and one word that he had known from childhood kept coming to mind.

Looking back at the Mayor Gohan said, "Call me Saiyaman," before opening a window and flying off.

**AN: So let me know what you think. Some backstory comes next chapter and the first villain is introduced. **


	5. Paternal Bonds

Chapter 5: Paternal Love

The chief of Orange Star's police force sat in front his desk pouring over papers. He had been signing papers and approving measures for somewhere around five hours now and had been growing restless. It was one of the times where Hercule started to wish for some kind of crisis to happen in order to avert the boredom that came with being the head of the police. Turning over a sheet a paper, Hercule was reminded of the events of the Red Saturday, as the media was calling it, and immediately regretted his previous thought of boredom. Peacetime wasn't so bad after all.

After the incident was over the boy, Sharpener, met Videl at the police station, and both had waited for her blond friend, Erasa. She had been running around the city looking around for the other boy- what was his name, Gomen? Gochan? - and had eventually given up and gone back to the police station. Erasa had been ecstatic upon seeing Videl back unharmed, and the two had hugged, which had given Hercule a smile.

The three had then parted and gone home for the night. Hercule had to stay for a few more hours and clean up with the rest of the crew. After the leader of the Sharks went down, catching the rest had been as easy as catching a headless chicken. Now the only after affects from the Shark attack was the paperwork. And Hercule hated paperwork.

Putting a folder away and opening a new one Hercule suddenly became interested upon reading the first few words. Apparently during the attack there was rumors of a vigilante stopping the petty crime that had awoken in the confusion that night. Eye witnesses said that he looked like a baseball player, but did not describe which one. Hercule spotted the officer who had reported it, Officer Raphael and asked him to come to his office via phone.

When he reached his office Hercule asked him, "Which baseball player did the vigilante look like in your report? We should at least try and recognize some of the civilians that assisted in the night." Raphael scratched his head and replied, "I really don't remember. I don't recall what the people I interviewed said. I don't really care about baseball so I didn't recognize the name. My apologies Chief."

Hercule sighed before dismissing him. The idea of civilians assisting in the night brought Hercule back to the thought of the Golden Fighter, or as chose to identify himself afterwards, Saiyaman. He had seen him all over the news recently. Saiyaman had been doing everything from saving people from speeding cars to stopping petty crime. He also apparently could fly. Hercule couldn't fathom how the man could do such things. He assumed that they were all some kind of trick.

Turning his thoughts from the superhero, Hercule began to pick out some of the witnesses of the vigilante. He could try and call them to get a better description of the man. Hercule doubted that it was actually a baseball player that saved the citizens, but a description would sure help the investigation. While he could assign this to some intern, Hercule would much rather rest his pen hand. He just hoped that Videl was having a good day.

* * *

Videl was not having a good day. She had been forced to explain the events of Red Saturday to random people a full week after it happened. While it felt good to tell the first few times, it had become quite annoying by today. The main reason she disliked telling the story, besides her kidnapping, was that she had to be reminded of Golden Hair, or as he had later decided to call himself, Saiyaman.

While she was thankful that he had assisted in her rescue, or diversion, Videl still didn't know what to think of the man. His powers defied mortal comprehension, with the super strength, super speed, and flight, he was straight out of comic book. Her father insisted that what he could do was some kind of elaborate trick, but Videl was not as convinced. She had seen him rush out of the room, and Videl could not figure out how such a thing could be a simple trick.

"…Videl? Can you explain what I just said to the class?" Coming out of her thoughts, Videl abruptly responded back to the teacher, "Uh, sorry Miss Pepper, I suppose I got lost in thought." Pepper smiled back at the girl and calmly said, "I know you've had a rough week, but at some point you have got to come back to Earth. And then, you can come back to class."

Videl apologized while Sharpner snickered beside her. Glaring at him she decided to focus back on her lecture.

"So class we have discussed the Great War in detail. Does anyone know of any other recent global conflict that we can discuss?" The teacher waited a moment before sighing and picking a random student. "Pen. Do you know any sort of recent global conflict?" Pen thought for a moment before responding, "Well there was the Red Ribbon Army from a few years back."

Miss Pepper nodded, excited, before saying, "Yes! The Red Ribbon Army. Can anyone explain it to me? How about… Gohan?" Gohan, who was sitting with his three friends, sat up straighter in his seat and said, "Well… I'm sorry but I've never heard of the Red Ribbon Army before."

Miss Pepper frowned. She had not judged the boy to be a liar, so she figured that he must really not know. She asked Gohan another question, "You were homeschooled before right?" Gohan nodded and Pepper affirmed her hypothesis. "I see. Does anyone else know about the Red Ribbon Army?" Videl, eager to get back in the teacher's good graces, raised her hand.

"The Red Ribbon Army was a worldwide terrorist group that was a problem in the world for years. They specialized in creating high tech weapons and tools of war that sent the world governments into panic. They were eventually stopped about 20 years ago by a coalition of all the world governments. Although…" Videl smiled a bit. "… There was a rumor that the Army was destroyed by one single man, but that is mostly a legend."

Pepper nodded, pleased with her answer. "That is essentially the gist of the Red Ribbon Army. I also enjoyed the legend about the single man. Are there any other recent global conflicts that anyone can talk about?"

Erasa, who had been bored so far in class, decided to answer the question. "There were those random cities that were ravaged mysteriously and disappeared without a trace. They happened fairly recent. Around what… seven years ago?" Pepper responded with an affirmation. "Yes, those incidents caused quite a stir in global politics. Thankfully they stopped for whatever reason, and the big wigs eventually were able to calm down."

"Is there anything else that comes to mind? I can think of one incident," She continued. "About 15 years ago… There was this threat called upon the World Leaders conference center…"

One of the class members jumped up. "Oh yeah! There was the Demon King! He tried to kill all of the world leaders!" The teacher smiled and said, "Yes, the Demon King Piccolo. He somehow fought his way through all of the primary defense forces that were guarding the WL. He then took the World Leaders hostage, and declared himself ruler over Earth. He was eventually taken down by a brave man who snuck into the complex. Piccolo apparently was able to get away, but in the end the World Leaders were saved."

Videl frowned and thought to herself. _This single man seems to be a running theme in the crisis stories. Interesting. I need to investigate this further._ She made a mental note to search on the internet for any interesting stories.

Pepper finished her lecture and looked at the time. "Well class seems to be over." The class then stood up and began packing up their school supplies. "Remember…" She said over the new noise. "…you have a test next week and homework due tomorrow. Don't forget!"

Gohan and his friends then began to walk toward the lunch room. Erasa let her displeasure at being cooped up in that class for too long. "Ugh… I hate history… It's so boring." The other blond shook his head and said, "I don't get you 'Rase. I'd much rather be in History than Physics. Physics just sucks."

Erasa giggled and said, "That's 'cause you suck at Physics." Sharpner then began to complain to his friend while Videl lightly smiled. Gohan calmly watched on as he observed the change in Videl. His black-haired friend had lightened up somewhat after the events of Red Saturday and Gohan couldn't really figure out why. If anything she should have closed off from begin kidnapped and held for ransom, but Videl had seemed to take it as a trip to an amusement park.

Thinking about the events of that night brought Gohan back to what he has done since that day. After the Mayor had asked him to be a source of light to the city, Gohan had thought about what that should entail. He had decided that his powers came to him for a reason and so he should give back to the world. If someone else had obtained these powers, Gohan would hope that the other person would do the same as him. So he, to Goten's happiness, had picked up a superhero costume. He had decided to keep the black shirt and pants, (after buying a new set of clothes, having bullet holes in the costume would look fairly bad) and decided to wear the green tunic he bought at the thrift store. He found a belt with a golden buckle to hold the outfit together.

Gohan thought he looked cool, but Goten disagreed. The superhero had at least decided to keep the outfit for now, until he thought of something the public would think as cool. So far he had spent some time before and after school to put on his costume and save people as Saiyaman. So far, he thought that he had done a good job. He had saved a bus of people from crashing after the driver had fallen asleep. He had stopped several assaults and minor robberies. He had even stopped a bank robbery. Is there anything more superhero than that!?

As the quartet entered the lunch room they saw several student standing around some of the TVs that normally displayed the news. Curiosity got the better of them, and they all went to observe what was going on. One of the students noticed Videl walk up and frantically asked, "Videl! What's your father going to do about this?" Videl, without any idea of what "this" was had to ask, "Wait, what are you talking about?" The student cleared his throat and said, "There's some_thing _attacking people and businesses down on Crescent Street. The police can't take it out! It's apparently bulletproof or something." The students stopped talking and looked up at the screen where a reporter was talking about what witnesses had seen.

Without warning, an explosion sounded close to the reporter and the screen turned to black. The students started frantically talking to each other again. "What the heck is going on?" "Are the police going to be able to do something?" "My mom works over in that area." "Where's Saiyaman?"

Gohan heard the last question. He had been trying to avoid having to leave school to do any crime fighting duties. He had to let the police do some work after all. Unfortunately, he had to agree that this situation called for his action. If this thing was bulletproof, it may take another bulletproof individual to get the job done. He silently tried to slip away out from the massive group of students who were staring at the TV waiting for the reporter to give out more information. He managed to turn the corner and leave out the door opposite from the crowd of students. However, his disappearance was noticed by one girl, who looked around for him with her blue eyes before shrugging and looking back at the screen.

Gohan left out one of the side doors of the school and began to unbutton his shirt. He had been wearing his costume underneath his school clothes for the last few days. The issue was trying to find a place to store them for the time being. He ultimately decided to stash his shirt, pants, and shoes under the bleachers that faced the track field. They'd probably be safe there.

He then stood up in his black body suit and green tunic and powered up, his golden hair being released from gravity, and started to fly toward the scene. Ever since he discovered that he could fly after being carelessly shot by the Sharks, he had started to fully embrace the freedom that came with it. Flying felt so second nature to Gohan.

Coming to a stop over where the reporter declared she was Gohan scanned the area for gun shots or explosions. Seeing a car explode Saiyaman let gravity over take him and landed in front of the figure that he believed was responsible. The figure stood before him at about 5 feet and was mostly monochromatic. His pale gray skin made it look like a shiny alien, but its body shape was definitely humanoid. There was other gray circles scattered around his body, but Gohan couldn't figure out what they were. The most defining piece of information was the "10" plastered across its body in red paint.

Desiring some answers from it Gohan asked, "Who are you?" The figure simply stared at him as if analyzing the question and then promptly pointed his right arm at him. Gohan was confused until out of the arm came a small gun that fired shots at the superhero. Saiyaman wasn't caught off guard this time and started to speed around the thing and picked up a manhole cover to guard against the rain of bullets. Blocking a few Saiyaman then took to the air and tossed the metal disk as if it was a Frisbee at his opponent.

The thing froze, as if it had no idea what to do, and took the blow to the stomach and was blasted a few meters down the road. Not waited to see if it was okay Saiyaman took off after it to incapacitate it. Before he got to it the thing got on all fours and produced an RPG from its shoulder and fired it at the superhero. Gohan twisted in midair and was able to dodge the rocket but was blasted forward by the explosion. Unable to land the punch that Saiyaman was going to throw, the green clad hero twisted in midair and brought his foot into contact with the thing's head.

The thing hit the ground hard and lay there for a moment. Saiyaman was able to process what just happened in the silence. _What I kicked was definitely metal. It also produced guns from its body. This thing is a robot. Some kind of android. And if so, I definitely don't have to hold back. _Gohan seized the moment and started to move to attack, but was stopped by a searing pain appearing in his head. Saiyaman stumbled to the ground and held his hand in his hands. _What the heck is this?_ Despite his state he was able to see the android stand up and prepare to fire his gun-hand again. Saiyaman fought through the pain and jumped off the ground and over the android. The android was unable to follow him and Gohan put the robot in a choke hold to stop it from moving. He then twisted with all of his might and ripped the android's head from his body. The android then stopped moving and fell on to the pavement.

Saiyaman panted for a second before standing up straight and preparing to leave since his job was done but was stopped by a female voice saying, "Wow, this circuitry is amazing!" He turned around to see a blue-haired woman standing over the decapitated android, toying with its circuits. "Whoever designed this must be a genius! And with that kind of autonomy… Wow."

Saiyaman was momentarily stunned before saying, "Uh, Miss… Shouldn't you be somewhere safer than here? And how did you get past the police brigade?" The woman just shook her head and said, "Oh please, I've been in more dangerous situations than this before. Raising my son was much harder than having to fight some kind some android." Saiyaman still remained at a loss of words.

The blue-haired woman then looked back up at the superhero and said, "Oh, where are my manners? My name is Bulma Briefs, CEO of Briefs Corp. Pleased to meet you." Gohan let this information sit for a moment. _So this woman is Bulma Briefs, head of Briefs Corp. I have even heard of her! She must be really famous. I can't believe that I'm talking to a celebrity! _

Saiyaman then seemed to remember that he was supposed to be a superhero and told Bulma, "Listen, I'm going to have to hand this robot over to the police. Can you please step away from it and go on your way?" Bulma just laughed at the question. "Listen,_Saiyaman,_ the police won't have a clue what to do with this thing. It'll be much more useful over at my company. We will be able to examine this further and determine who is responsible for this attack on the city."

She then looked at Saiyaman seriously. "If this android were to go over to the police and not Briefs Corp, many people could die." Saiyaman considered the woman in front of him. _Is she telling the truth? The police seem to have no idea of what this was. They were also ill prepared to stop this thing. Mrs. Briefs seems to have some idea of what's going on, even if she is being secretive._ Saiyaman looked to see policeman starting to come on to the scene. _I need to make a decision. _

"Very well. I'll let you have it." Bulma smiled. She then took on a sly look and said, "So Saiyaman, the thing is… I can't carry this thing back to Briefs Corp by myself. Do you think you can carry it for me?" Gohan blanched. "Well… I guess it will be the chivalrous thing to do. I'll do it." Bulma clapped her hands together and said, "Excellent! Do you mind if I can rind on your back?" Gohan just sighed.

Gohan was expecting to have to fly all the way to West City, but Bulma informed him that she had a house in Orange Star. "The headquarters of Briefs Corp has been moved to Orange Star City. All big business is done in this city right now." Bulma informed Saiyaman in the air. "It's in that direction," she said as she pointed in a general direction. Flying in that direction Gohan spotted a large building shaped like an igloo that took up about a whole city block. Bulma acknowledged the building as BC, and Saiyaman landed in the yard.

He let Bulma off his back and waited for her to show him where to put the robot. She told Saiyaman to follow her into the building. Gohan did so and entered the building through a side door, lugging the android on his back. Bulma led Gohan through some hallways and into a large room that housed machinery. Bulma asked Saiyaman to dump the robot somewhere on the floor. Saiyaman did so. Bulma smiled and politely began to walk the superhero back to the door. On the way back Bulma made Saiyaman a proposition. "So _Saiyaman_. Since you brought this machine all the way here, I'll make you a promise. If you ever need some weird favor that comes with being a superhero, just come to me. I'll owe you one."

Saiyaman just responded, "Okay," as he wasn't exactly sure how the richest woman in the world had ended up owing him one. On the way back to the door, the two were stopped by a teenager with lavender hair. Bulma was obviously surprised to see the boy and said, "Trunks! What are you doing home so early?" The boy, Trunks, just shrugged and said, "They cancelled school because of the panic the robot that you brought here caused in the city."

After hearing the boy's name Gohan thought to himself. _Trunks? As in Goten's friend? I wonder…_ Then another thought occurred to him. _If all this panic is happening in the city, then mom is probably worried about me. I should get back. _Before he could leave he saw Trunk's eyes on him. Putting on his superhero voice Saiyaman said, "What is it little boy? Do you want my autograph?" Trunks just stared at him and bluntly said, "No, not really. Your costume sucks." Bulma snickered while the superhero glared at the teenager. Turning to Bulma he politely excused himself and walked out of the door.

He crouched in order to jump back into the sky, but fell to the ground clutching his head again. He sat there until the pain receded and then took off back towards OSH, startling a pigeon in the air.

* * *

At OSH, Erasa Rubba was laying on a bench outside the main entrance. _I guess I should be going home soon._ She had been laying there for a few hours to avoid having to go home and be with her family. Sighing she decided to stay there for a few more minutes to delay the inevitable. After school was cancelled her classmates all promptly left for their homes, some with more urgency than others. She knew Sharpner took off back to his house to take a nap and was fairly sure that Videl had rushed off to the crime scene.

While her friend did not know it herself, Erasa knew that Videl was obsessing over Saiyaman. Videl had spent way too much time listening to news casts that detailed Saiyaman's rescues and had searched all over the internet to find pictures of him. Erasa couldn't blame her though because in the pictures that she had seen Saiyaman looked kind of dreamy. With the chivalry and the strength, he was a 10 in Erasa's book.

She heard somebody walking, breaking her thoughts and turned to see Gohan walking from the athletic area. _Where the heck has he been? And why is he here now?_ She called out to him, "Gohan!" The boy in question was as surprised in seeing her there as she was to see him. Erasa smiled at him and said, "What are you doing here?" Gohan started to sweat and said, "I, uh, I left some stuff at school and came back to get them." Erasa narrowed her eyes and said, "What could you have left over by the track field?" Gohan made a few choice noises, but couldn't make a coherent statement.

The blond just shook her head. "Never mind Gohan. I'll believe you this once." Looking back at the time on her phone, Erasa decided that it was time to go home. She stood up and flinched at the dizziness that came from standing up after laying down for a long time. She turned to Gohan who was still fairly red and asked, "Hey where do you live? Do you mind walking me home?" Gohan had a thoughtful look on his face but said, "Sure. It'd be my pleasure." Erasa laughed before saying, "That's why I like you Gohan. How thoughtful you are."

She then told him where she lived. Gohan decided that it wasn't too far from where he lived and agreed to walk home with her. Erasa and Gohan spent some time making small talk while walking down the street. At one point Gohan appeared to be in some pain but didn't say anything about it. Erasa just decided to add to the many mysteries of Gohan list.

Eventually the pair reached Erasa house, or rather the gate to her house. Gohan stared at the magnificent three story house that Erasa called home. Turning his attention away from the colorful garden he asked, "This is your house? Wow." Erasa nodded and answered, "Yep. My dad's a big business guy. I think he does something in software." The two parted and Erasa entered her property while Gohan walked away while still looking at the house.

Erasa entered her house and walked up a set of stairs to reach her room. Placing her book bag on her bed she sat down in front of her computer and planned out her homework for the day. Her thoughts were interrupted by her older sister, Diamond, walking into her room. "Hey Erasa! Me, Pearl, and mom are going to go to a restaurant to get dinner and then go shopping. You want to come?" Erasa closed up and said, "No thanks. I'm not hungry. I went shopping with Videl last week anyway. I already spent all of Dad's money for the month."

Diamond pouted and said, "You never go shopping with your sisters anymore…" To calm her sister Erasa said, "I'm sorry Dia. If I didn't go shopping with Videl shed wear a T-shirt to school every day. You understand, right?" The eldest Rubba sister made a disgusted face and said, "Ugh yes. Poor girl. Make sure you keep doing that so that abomination doesn't happen." Erasa just smiled at her sister until she left the room and then clenched her fists. _Talking about Videl like that… I can't stand it._

Erasa waited until the voices downstairs left out the door to take her project out of her drawer. It was just something simple to pass the time on. She had named it "Bobby." Bobby the toy car. She had built Bobby from scratch out of spare parts she found here and there. So far she had programed the car to respond to commands from her computer, but had not managed to figure out how to build it to be autonomous. She kept getting stuck on the collision detection.

Driving Bobby around she thought why Bobby had to be a secret from her family. Keeping it a secret from her father wasn't difficult, and just kind of happened since he never was around. Her sisters had taken after her mother to be only obsessed with boys, money, and fun. They would think that she was weird for having interests in engineering and science. She had spent so much time feeling out of touch and isolated from her family. She didn't want to risk it again. Shopping with Videl was just a way for Erasa to avoid shopping with her family. She hated it.

She had become so wrapped up in her thoughts that she accidently ran Bobby into a dresser. "Oh no! Bobby, are you okay?"

* * *

Meanwhile, in an unknown laboratory an old man slammed his fists down upon his keyboard. He had just finished reviewing the video data Android 10 had recorded. He was not pleased. He was tempted to call the test run a success, from how much destruction 10 caused despite intervention from the police. The OSPD had pretty much been useless against his creation. However, there was that one variable that had thrown everything off. Saiyaman.

Upon seeing his powers, the scientist had done a quick search him upon his database and had found that the superhero had been in action for a little over a week. He tended to do the things that most superheroes do, like saving cats from trees or helping old ladies cross the street. However, the most noticeable element about Saiyaman was the similarity of his powers to another man that the doctor knew very well. Goku Son.

The doctor hated the man. That accursed man had singlehandedly destroyed the Red Ribbon Army all those years ago. The doctor was glad when he suddenly disappeared off the map. He assumed that Goku's heroics had caught up to him and killed him. Upon hearing of his demise, the doctor ceased all attempts to thwart him and instead focused on his plans for conquest. It would seem that he would have to review his old data. He did not like the old experiments. Creating something to kill Goku would have to be extremely powerful, and thus endanger the doctor.

He turned his attention to Saiyaman. Based on how easy he dismantled his creation the doctor knew that his counter strike would have to be powerful. For the time being, he'd wait and observe. There were many things that Dr. Gero was, and patient was one of them.

* * *

(Tuesday)

The next day Gohan Son was walking out of OSH, done with school for the day. He felt the beginnings of a headache coming on and momentarily stopped to let it pass. The headaches had become more frequently lately. He best described them as someone trying to drill a hole in his head. Gohan was becoming more and more worried about the situation. He was considering going to the doctor and risking his identity being known.

Now, however, was time for him to do his daily rounds. Walking into an alley he placed his book bag down behind some trashcans and changed into his suit. He had recently picked up a pair of white boots and gloves, as he had gotten tired of fighting in his dress shoes. Jumping into the air he began to search for threats to the good people of Orange Star.

While flying he let his mind wander. He had been wondering what was going on with his mother. Goten had told him that he had come home one day to hear mom grumbling to herself about some "arrogant woman" and Chi-Chi being "a charity case." It was after this that the mother of two had announced that she had gotten a new job as a chef for a fancy restaurant. Gohan looked up the name. While Gohan was by no means demeaning his mother's cooking skills, he still found it hard to believe that she went from a waitress to a chef for The Edge of the Sea in about a week.

Then again, he had went from a shy teenager to a superhero in that amount of time.

Gohan was then blindsided with another headache. He dropped a few feet in the air and then righted himself. He noticed that this headache was different than the other ones. While he was trying to isolate the difference he suddenly felt drawn to an area outside the city limits. While he had never been to this area before he knew everything about it. He knew it was roughly in the midpoint between West City and Orange Star City. There was a river that ran about a mile away and the area was covered densely with forestry.

Saiyaman did not understand any of what was going on, but he knew that he needed to go there. It might give him a way to relieve himself of the headaches. He believed that whatever was there was causing them. Not giving anything else a second thought Saiyaman took off at full speed toward the area.

It took him a good hour to get to the location, but thankfully it was fairly close to the city. He hovered in the air and observed the area below him. Seeing a cave carved into a side of a hill, the superhero slowly fell down and landed near the entrance. He had to duck his head to get into the entrance and then had to wipe cobwebs out of his face. Walking a short distance he then was able to straighten his spine with some room still above his head.

_So you have finally made it here._ A voice spoke in Gohan's mind. Instinctively he turned and saw a figure sitting on the ground in a meditative position. Upon seeing the figure Gohan had to take a step back out of shock. The figure sitting on the ground had deep green skin, with pink skin covering his parts of his arm. He –It?—was wearing a deep purple outfit that could be considered a Gi. A blue sash covered his waist. Gohan noticed antenna like things on his head. His eyes were closed.

_Do not fear me Gohan. I am not your enemy. _Gohan responded to the sedentary figure. "How do you know me? And what are you?" _I am speaking into your mind and you ask me how I know who you are? I have been observing you for many weeks now. I believe that you can help me. _The voice ceased in Gohan's mind for a moment and the blond took the opportunity to speak. "You did not answer my question. I won't help you until you tell me who and what you are."

The voice chuckled a moment before speaking again._ I see you are not exactly like him. He would jump at the chance of helping someone. But as to my name and my species, my name is Piccolo. I am from an alien race known as the Namekians. _

The name brought back a memory from a previous class. "Wait a second! You must be the Demon King Piccolo! You must want me to help you take over the world! Well I refuse." Gohan turned to leave but Piccolo spoke again. Wait_! I do admit to being that person you described, but my goal is not conquest. I wish for the safety of my child. _

(Flashback)

Piccolo, fresh off his defeat at the World Leaders conference by Goku Son, had desired a way to draw out the man who had defeated him. He had considered several ideas including attacking cities, but none of them were guaranteed to get the attention of the man. So Piccolo had devised a much better plan. He had learned that the man had begot a child with the woman he had married. In order to draw out Goku for a fight to the death, Piccolo kidnapped his young boy while his mother attended to him. Giving the woman instructions on where to go to find him Piccolo flew off toting the sleeping boy.

That was where Piccolo found himself now. He stood on his chosen battlefield, a rocky area with a moderate amount of vegetation growing, waiting for his nemesis to arrive. He had simply dumped the boy down on the ground behind him, not caring about him at all for the moment. The Demon King stared in the direction that Goku would soon be arriving but something moving in his peripheral vision forced his gaze downward.

The boy had woken up and was staring up at him. Piccolo stared back at the boy. The boy in his green and yellow outfit stretched his short little arms toward Piccolo, asking him to pick him up. Piccolo understood the message and bent down to face the boy on his eye level. "You don't fear me boy!? You don't fear my skin and appearance and hate me for it?" The Namekian's eyes narrowed. "I bet you will grow up to be like all the others. Who see me and call me a monster."

Baby Gohan's response to Piccolo's tirade was to reach up and grab Piccolo's antennae and pull on them, giggling. Piccolo recoiled at the pain and forced the infant's hands away before yelling, "Get your hands off of me you brat!"

The infant did not enjoy being yelled at and plopped down on his bottom before starting to cry. Piccolo glared at the kid for making the noise but stood his ground and went back to waiting for his enemy to arrive. The wailing did not cease and Piccolo tried to think of something he could do to stop the child's crying. He eventually decided to pet the child's hair. The Demon had seen humans do the same with animals and figured it was worth a shot.

Gohan responded to the touch of the alien and soon stopped crying. Piccolo signed with contentment and went back to waiting for Goku. A moment later he looked down again and saw Gohan standing on the ground holding some flowers for Piccolo to take. The Namekian looked at the child's face and saw a single expression. _He's sorry for hurting me earlier._ Piccolo bent down to take the flowers and saw the child's expression of happiness.

Goku Son arrived shortly after, worried sick about the safety of his child. What he ended up seeing absolutely blew his mind. He touched down on the ground to see the Demon King of Earth playing Peek-a-boo with his infant son. Piccolo noticed his nemesis' arrival and looked mortified to have been caught doing such a thing. Gohan noticed his daddy and began to run toward him. He tripped, got back up, and reached his father's outstretched arms. The father hugged his son tightly and watched Piccolo fly silently away.

It was then that Piccolo decided to have a child.

(Flashback end)

Piccolo continued to speak into the teenager's mind. _We Namekians are not sexual like you humans. We reproduce without the need of two people. _

The superhero seemed to tense up on the word "sexual" but nodded, asked Piccolo to continue. _One day, forces beyond my control forced me to leave my child alone while I fought to defend the Earth. I came back to find my child missing. Desperate, I searched the Earth several times over in search of him. Unfortunately, I needed to rest. In order to speed up the search process, I entered a state that gives me the ability to examine the world without having to move. _

_However, this state has drawbacks. Time doesn't seem the same in this state. Ten years passed before I knew it. I eventually located where my child was, but my body has become used to my comatose state. If I were to come out, I would die. Yet my child needs me. Some humans have taken him and are experimenting on him in a laboratory. I cannot live or die with this knowledge. _

_So I am now asking you again. Will you save my child?_

Saiyaman stared at the creature, pondering the validity of his tale. Gohan had sensed truth flow from the Namekian's words. He had also sensed the desperation. The teenager reached a decision. "Yes. I will save your child."

_I thought so. I will show you his location. _Gohan felt the alien enter his mind again. Observing the location in his mind, Gohan saw that the child was located somewhere in the outskirts of Orange Star City. He looked back at Piccolo's body, and saw spider webs covering every inch of the body. He then looked him in the eyes and said, "I will definitely save your child." Gohan swore he saw Piccolo smile. He then walked out of the cave and flew away.

**AN: So radical changes to canon. The Piccolo in this story is Piccolo Jr., not the original Piccolo. I have to come up with ways to take all of the older characters out of the main conflicts. So I don't have any, "Why didn't so-and-so show up to help Gohan?" scenarios going on.**

**Also, I have slightly changed the characters who only exist as comic relief or stereotypes. Hence, why Hercule, Sharpner, and Erasa are different. **

**As usual, tell me what you think. I am a beginning writer and am not experienced in verb tense. Any advice on making this story flow better would be great.**


	6. Crossroads

Chapter 6: Crossroads

Saiyaman flew at full speed back towards the city. He knew every second that he wasted was one more second of torture that the child had to endure. There was a burning warning in the back of his head that warned that it could be a trap for the Demon to capture him, but Gohan waved it off. Something had felt almost… nostalgic about Piccolo. The teenager felt as if he could trust the Namekian.

He reached the suburbs of Orange Star and looked around the area waiting for his memory to click with what he was seeing. Spotting a building that he recognized from Piccolo's memory implant, he carefully descended to avoid being spotted by passing cars or pedestrians. Landing near the building, he began to creep around the premises. He eventually learned where he was. A sign on a door said 'Wheelo Biomedical Research Institute.' _So if I am looking for an alien who is being experimented on in the name of science, I'm in the right place. I could also be blowing up a cancer research center. _

Saiyaman decided to take the chance and ripped a side door off of its hinges. He entered slowly after putting the door back where it should be, roughly. _If I was experimenting on an alien, where would I be? Underground. _Gohan crept around the building, looking for stairs that would take him underground. He had to hide from two people walking around the hallways. He eventually found a door that read, 'Area is off limits to Non-Employees. Hazard.'

_Worth a shot. _Gohan entered the door and smiled when he saw stairs leading into the earth. He descended the stairs slowly, listening for movement or voices. The stairs ended and Gohan peeked his head around a doorway. He found himself surrounded by machinery. Computers and various chemicals lined the walls of the dimly lit room. A few researchers were staring up at a machine that housed a large amount of liquid. Inside the container was a creature that looked similar to Piccolo, hooked up to various wires and a respirator. He was wearing something that you would put on a surgical patient. He could barely make out the words on the tube.

Subject 01

Code Name: "Snail"

Gohan felt anger burn inside him. He then focused back on the scientists. He caught the barest hint of a conversation. Two of the scientists were talking to each other. "…how number 1 reacted differently to the chemical then the other one. It's extremely confusing." Saiyaman then decided to blow his cover and rescue the child without subtly. Stepping out of his cover he bellowed at the scientists, "How dare you torture this child!"

The scientists jumped at the loud yell and started to back away from the glowing superhero. One of the scientists gasped, "It's-It's Saiyaman." A moment of silence passed before Saiyaman spoke again. "I want him released. Now." A braver scientist spoke up and said, "You can't just take this specimen! We have orders from Dr. Wheelo to experiment on this alien! Do you know what we can discover from him? We could discover eternal life!"

Saiyaman's glow intensified, the light coming from him reflecting off the metal machines. It seemed to make the scientists more afraid. He spoke, "I want him released." To accent his point, he smashed a nearby computer with his fist. At the sign of aggression a scientist took a gun from a compartment and fired a few rounds at Saiyaman. The superhero just stood still and let the bullets fall to the ground.

Taking the shocked expressions of the scientists as a good thing, Saiyaman slowly walked over to one of the machines near the alien and decided to break it as well. The scientists all panicked and started to run out of the room. Gohan inferred by their yelling that the machine he broke was a sedation machine.

Saiyaman then turned to the only other person in the room, the unconscious Namekian. Cocking his arm, the superhero broke through the glass and stepped into the cell, catching him in his arms. Saiyaman then gently walked out of the cell and laid him on the ground.

Saiyaman still was not satisfied with the situation, so he walked around smashing other machines as well. He looked around and was satisfied with his tantrum, so he decided to make his exit with the Namekian. Cradling him in his arms Saiyaman started to sprint out of the building and then took off into the sky.

He searched around for a spot to land and found a wooded area outside of the city to sit down with the Namekian. He laid him on the ground and sat down to think. He needed to figure out what to do with the alien now that he was free. The alien would not be able to blend in to natural society easily. While Gohan wouldn't mind letting the alien live in his house, his mother would be an issue. _Hey mom! I found this alien on my way home from school and he needs a place to stay. _

As he was sitting there he felt Piccolo enter his mind again. Saiyaman allowed the intrusion. _Thank you for saving him. I will be forever in your debt, Gohan. Now listen for a moment. I have important information to tell you. _

Gohan waited for him to continue.

_The first is that, I may soon be dying. This omnipotence state may be what is keeping me alive, but I cannot hold it forever. The fact that I have remained like this for several years is a miracle in itself. Soon, I will go to sleep. I may never wake up from it. I do not regret my decisions. I would do it all again if it meant that I could save my child. _

Gohan had been listening carefully and felt much respect for the man by the weight his words carried. Hearing that Piccolo may soon die filled the teenager with sorrow. While the man had apparently tried to take over the world at one point, Gohan couldn't help feeling sorry for him. While the teenager still was nowhere close to being a father, Gohan still felt like he could sympathize with the alien.

_Do not pity me boy. I have made my decision. There is another few things that you should know. Things concerning who you are. But first, I must tell you my child's name. It is Dende. _

_Dende. _Gohan tried out the name on his tongue. He then focused on what Piccolo wanted to say regarding his identity. However, it was not to be so, as the Namekian child began to wake up. Although, Gohan started to reconsider his description of child, as the Namekian appeared to be only slightly shorter than him. Gohan felt Piccolo's presence leave him.

Dende woke up and seemed startled by everything that he saw around him. Being kept in a laboratory for most of his life would do that, Gohan figured. He then saw Saiyaman, in his menacing aura, and started to back away afraid. Gohan realized his mistake and powered down. Before he could try and comfort Dende, a look of confusion dotted the teenage (?) alien's face. Gohan guessed that Piccolo was speaking into his mind.

Dende then closed his eyes in concentration. Gohan watched as many different emotions flew across his face. Surprise, followed by contentment, followed by sorrow. Piccolo apparently was explaining things to his child. Explaining why he may not be around much longer. Gohan felt a wave of depression fall upon him at that thought.

After a moment, Dende got up and walked cautiously over to Gohan. He placed his finger on Gohan's forehead and closed his eyes in concentration. Gohan had no choice but to just go with it. A few seconds passed before Dende suddenly removed his finger and said, "So you are Gohan Son then? My parent told me you rescued me from those men."

Gohan nodded, surprised that Dende spoke so fluently. "Yes I did. Your father asked me to do so. Then Piccolo… He told you everything?"

"Yes. He told me as much as he could in the time he had left. My heritage. Where I am. I did not understand all of it. For instance, what is a 'superhero?'" Gohan smiled and began to explain his story to Dende. Some things like school took a bit more explaining, but Gohan felt like he had time. It wasn't until Gohan noticed the fading light that he realized he needed to be going home.

"So Gohan. With your identity being a secret, does it mean that I cannot live with you for the time being?" Gohan did not know how to respond to him truthfully. "Well the thing is… I… I would…" Gohan stuttered out a few things.

Dende seemed to understand. "I see. Gohan, from what I have heard, you have found your place in the world. I wish to find my place in the world as well. I will travel this world for a time. Hopefully I can rid myself of all the bad memories that those men gave me."

"I know that most people will be afraid of me, like they were of my father." Gohan's compassionate side took over. He told him, "I don't fear you! People won't necessarily fear you." Dende smiled before saying, "Yes, you don't. But you are like me. Different than the world you live in. However, I feel that I am too different. I want to find someplace where I belong."

Gohan still felt like he had to object. "But where will you stay? What about food?"

Dende frowned. "Food? I don't understand that word. But my people only require water to live. Also, this temperature, while fairly hot, is bearable." Noticing the look on Gohan's face he said, "My people are resistant to cold, at the expense of heat." He then added in a means of explanation.

Gohan was beginning to understand what Dende wanted for himself. I quest to find himself. _Isn't that what I am doing right now? I don't need to be Saiyaman. I just want to be Saiyaman._ He then made his decision. "Go ahead and try and find yourself. When you come to a decision, find me. I want to be a part of your life. I'll be your first friend."

Dende smiled in agreement. Gohan held out his hand for Dende to shake it. Dende looked confused at the gesture but slowly caught on and shook it. The Namekian then surprised Gohan by floating into the air and flying off. Gohan shrugged. _I guess everybody can fly then. _Gohan then powered up and flew back toward his apartment.

Both teenagers were unaware of the danger that they had left behind in the underground laboratory. Now that the sedation machine is broken, there is nothing to keep the other being that resided in the laboratory asleep. The being that Gohan missed will slowly awaken.

* * *

The next day, Wednesday, brought some normalcy for Gohan. After busting up a laboratory and befriending an alien, Gohan decided that he needed to do some normal things. Gohan dully noted that normal for him meant stopping crime.

For the time being he just wanted to enjoy his lunch period. His three friends were all eating lunch outside, enjoying the nice weather. Due to his mother's new job as a chef, she had been able to buy the boys more food to eat, which they had both been extremely happy about. Chi-Chi had always told her boys that they ate more food in a day than most people do in a weak. Gohan had never had a reference for that until he began eating with his friends.

Today Gohan had two stacked sandwiches, a large bowl of rice, mixed vegetables, and a fruit salad. His friends were staring at him eat his lunch with looks of fright. Sharpner tried to talk to his friend over his food stash. "Uh Gohan? Do you really need all that food?" Gohan stopped eating for a moment and looked at Sharpner. "Yeah definitely. It will at least get me though the day."

"Get you through the day?" Videl repeated. "Gohan I've seen you eat before and this is nothing close to what you eat normally."

Gohan shrugged. "Well I've been hungrier than normal recently." Gohan figured that flying and lifting cars required more calories than normal.

Erasa looked like she was going to be sick. "Gohan how are you not fat?"

Gohan started to feel embarrassed and rubbed the back of his neck with his arm. "I guess I just have a fast metabolism."

"Extremely fast," Sharpner muttered. He then checked his phone. "Well anyway, class is about to start. We should get going." His friends agreed with him and started to pack up, while Gohan finished his meal. They left their table with Gohan trailing behind after packing up quickly. Gohan's progress was stopped by a red-haired girl.

She looked up at Gohan and quietly asked, "Um, Gohan? Can I ask you a question?" Gohan nodded, while trying to remember the girl's name.

The girl continued, "So I was having trouble with Chemistry… I'm not so good at it… and I, uh… I wanted to know if you could help me sometime with it. I know you're pretty smart and nice so I uh…" She started to blush.

Videl had noticed that Gohan wasn't following them and turned around to find him. The two blonds followed suit.

Gohan had no problem tutoring her in Chemistry. He found it pretty simple. The only problem was that he couldn't remember her name. "Sure. I can help you uh…" _Angela! It's Angela! _"…Angela." The girl in question seemed to brighten upon hearing her name. "Awesome! Can you help me on Saturday over some lunch?"

Videl had been listening to the conversation and realized what was really going on. _It's so obvious that she's trying to make this a date. There's no way Gohan doesn't realize this. _Unfortunately, Gohan responded with, "Sure. That works for me. How about…" He tried to think of a decent restaurant. "…Lorenzo's Diner?"

Videl internally fumed. _You have got to be kidding me. Who studies on a Saturday? Then again, Gohan probably does. But still! I mean food at a diner? She's also pulling out the shy, innocent school girl act! How oblivious can one person be? _Apparently greatly, as Gohan was writing down his cell phone number on a slip of paper to give to Angela. Another thought occurred to Videl. _What if he knows this already? Could he be interested?_

Looking at her friends, Videl realized that they had reached the same conclusions. Erasa looked like she was staring at a puppy, while Sharpner just looked bored.

Gohan and Angela said their goodbyes and Gohan walked over to his friends. Videl looked angry for some reason, while Sharpner was smirking, and Erasa looked excited. He tried to figure out why they didn't look normal.

Sharpner walked over and patted him on the back. "Good going man. I didn't think you had it in you."

"Oh Gohan, that was so adorable! I'm so proud of you!" Erasa squealed. Videl said nothing.

Gohan looked between them, confused. "What are you guys talking about? I'm just tutoring her in chemistry. Why is that such a big deal?" His friends stared at him in surprise.

Videl shook her head and turned around to leave. "That's what I thought." The other two followed suit.

"I cannot believe he just said that."

"How are all men so dense?"

Gohan just stared after them before hurrying behind Sharpner to class.

* * *

(Saturday)

The being's conscious was slowly returning to it. The drugs keeping it sedated where slowly wearing off. He had not seen another human in several days. He was curious as to why they abandoned him. He eventually realized that he did not care. Whether they abandoned him from good will or not, he did not care.

He clenched his fists for the first time in years. Feeling well enough to escape he punched the glass prison with all of his might. The glass shattered to the floor and the liquid in the prison spilled out. He looked around the room to examine his situation. He saw the place where they had been keeping the second Namekian. It was shattered.

He decided that number 2 either managed to escape and kill all of the humans, or was rescued by an outside force. _I wonder if Piccolo caused the escape. It would explain why he rescued the other Namekian and not me. If it was anyone else…_

The being became very angry and started to grind his teeth. It was then that his situation became clear to him. His freedom was a blessing. It gave him a reason to live. Before this time, he was too focused on his hatred to live. His life had been a living nightmare.

Now his hatred was the only thing that gave him reason to live. Being apart from that man had cursed him to this fate.

He then looked towards his own cell, where the humans had poked and prodded him with various needles. He noticed something written down that he had never seen before.

Subject 00

Code Name: "Slug"

He recognized that word. It was a word that described an animal on this planet. A pathetic creature. A bug that a human could crush under a foot. This was what the humans had called him. Insignificant. Weak. Pathetic.

They had also reaffirmed their opinion with how they treated him. Made him into a science experiment without his permission. Tortured him for their own ends. They essentially killed him.

The being's anger reached a climax. He threw a punch at an already broken machine. _If that is how the human think of me, then I shall show them how I think of them. I'll kill them. I'll kill them all! I want to see the look on their faces when they are wiped out by the being they called a "Slug."_

_I will embrace that name. Slug. _He opened his mouth and roared, "I am Lord Slug! And I am coming for you all!"

Saiyaman was flying around the city while he waited for the tutoring session to begin. He realized that he had some time to burn, and so he decided to do his duty for the time being. Wiping sweat off of his forehead Saiyaman flew over to the side of town that he had not been before. Today was one of the hottest days in recent memory. Gohan couldn't remember a day at Mt. Poazu that was as hot as it was today.

He reflected on how he had not had to do anything today. He figured that the real issues would begin in the evening. Flying over to the commercial side of town, he saw something that caught his attention.

A car was speeding down a road, weaving in and out of traffic. It was approaching a red light, where a pedestrian was walking across the road, not paying attention to his surroundings. Saiyaman sprang into action. He flew as fast as he could to the pedestrian, and grabbed him in the air and quickly let him down on the sidewalk. The pedestrian managed to let out a frightened, "Thank you," to the superhero, but Saiyaman was focusing on the speeding car.

He heard the car driver frantically honking its horn as the car continued to speed down the road. _His brakes must be broken. I need to stop it without hurting the driver. _

He leaped from the ground into the air to fly after the speeding car. He reached the end bumper and pulled on while thrusting his feet in the ground. He could feel his boots tearing up as the friction worked on them. The car eventually started to slow down, but was approaching another intersection.

Saiyaman made his decision and lifted up on the bumper to lift the wheels of the car in the air. He then made his way under it and lifted the car into the air. He pushed off the ground and momentarily flew in the air holding the car over his head.

Saiyaman realized that he never had flown while lifting something heavy. It quickly became taxing on the young superhero. He watched the tires finally slow down, before he put it on the ground and walked away from the car, panting. The driver stumbled out and thanked him.

Saiyaman also realized that there were people around him, cheering and applauding. He smiled and waved before deciding to make his exit and jumped into the sky. He realized that it was quickly approaching six. _Oh no! I'm going to be late for my tutoring session!_

He made a mad dash for where he had hid his clothes. He would just have to try and wash some of the sweat off of himself in the bathroom. He managed to make it into Lorenzo's Diner before their meeting time.

* * *

Videl and Erasa were sitting down in a restaurant waiting for the waiter to come back with their drinks. Erasa had been ready for the weekend to come around so she could finally relax. The robot attack downtown had shaken up the residents of Orange Star pretty badly. Erasa herself did know what to make of it. The thought of a robot attacking people for no reason what so ever made her sick.

Speaking of sick, she had thought that Videl was sick when she asked her friend to spend Saturday out on the town. Normally Videl spent her Saturdays doing social things, like training or training. She had agreed, happy to spend some more time with her best friend. The oddest thing about it all was that Videl had insisted on going to this restaurant at this particular time.

Looking at the menu in front of her, she felt like she recognized the name. _Lorenzo's Diner… Wait a minute… _She stood up and looked around the room. She found her target in the back of the room. Gohan was explaining something to Angela with a textbook in front of him. Angela, however, probably didn't know the textbook was there, and was too busy staring into Gohan's eyes.

Looking back at her raven-haired friend Erasa said loudly, "You have got to be kidding me Videl. Are we stalking Gohan?"

Videl jumped out of her seat and hissed, "Shhhh! Keep your voice down! He'll hear us." Erasa just slowly slid back in her seat. "I can't believe that this was your intent all along. Here I thought that you wanted to spend time with me…"

Videl realized she may have hurt her friend. "No Erasa it's not like that! I'm just worried for Gohan. I think Angela may be using him."

Unfortunately, Erasa did not even hear Videl, as something had suddenly occurred to her. She looked back at her friend in a new light. Erasa said slyly, "Wait one second. I see what's going on here." Videl realized what was going on in Erasa's mind and said, "No that's not it!"

"Yes it totally is! You like Gohan! You Videl Satan, are jealous!"

"I swear that's not-"

"I can't believe that this is happening! Videl Satan, smitten with a boy!" She then put on a dramatic voice. "She silently stares after him after she realizes that his heart is being stolen by another woman. Oh the tragedy!"

Videl had turned red by this point, and angrily said, "Will you listen? I think that Angela just wants to use Gohan for the free tutoring sessions. Gohan's just too naive to see the difference."

"I think that you are the one who's being naïve Videl. If they start going out than Angela has the right to ask her boyfriend for help with school. I bet your ideal boyfriend would help you in martial arts!"

Videl scoffed at the statement, "That's not-" _She's actually right. _"-that's not the point. The point is that Gohan's a nice guy who's just going to get used for the free tutoring. That's it." Unfortunately, the two did not get to finish their conversation, as a loud crash sounded from outside the building.

Many of the other diners stood up after they heard the commotion. Gohan was one of them. He began to analyze the situation at hand to see if it needed him, or rather, Saiyaman. _What was that sound? That didn't sound like just a car crash. Could it be another one of those robots? I need to get out of here._ Before he could move he saw Videl run out of the door in the direction of the sound.

_Videl? And there's Erasa. What are they doing here?_ He turned to Angela and said, "Sorry Angela, but I have to go now. You understand right?" He didn't bother to wait for an answer and placed some money on the table before following Videl out of the door.

All Angela saw was Gohan chasing Videl. She stood up disappointed, and left.

Gohan lost sight of Videl after she left. While running in the general direction of the crash he looked for a place to change. He spotted a porta-potty near a construction site. _Well it's not heroic… But there's an emergency right now. _Stomaching his pride Gohan entered the portable toilet and changed into his superhero costume, his boots still torn up. _They'll just have to hold up for now._

He took to the air. From his new vantage point he saw people running away from a street that was covered in smoke. Looking further into the distance Gohan could see a path of smoke that led to the source of the panic. He flew over and started to search around for any sign of conflict.

The street was an absolute mess. Cars were overturned, street lights were bent, and windows of stores were destroyed. _What could have done such a thing?_ Movement caught his attention. He saw Videl pulling with all her might on an overturned car door. The hood of the car was on fire.

Saiyaman ran over to find out what she was doing. Videl looked at him. She stared at him and said, "So you're Saiyaman." A moment of silence passed before Videl shook her head and said, "Help me. This family is trapped under here and the car could blow any moment."

Saiyaman looked at the car and observed a family of three all trying to escape from the car. "Stand back Miss Videl," he told the girl. Videl stepped back hesitantly. Saiyaman lifted with all of his might and turned the car right side up. He then ripped the car doors off of the frame. Both teenagers assisted in helping the family out of the car.

He then turned to Videl. "What's going on? What is causing this?" Videl shook her head. "I was hoping that you would know, Saiyaman." The green and black superhero realized that he was back to square one. However another crash farther down the street gave him a clue.

He turned to Videl. "Can I get you to help these people? There may be other people around here that need help." Videl was upset to being left out of the action, but realized that saving the people's lives was just as important. She nodded and rushed off.

Saiyaman focused his attention down the road and sped off towards the source of destruction. While he was running, he noticed a truck flying in the air. Gohan caught it as well as he could and dropped it to the ground.

"How interesting," Saiyaman heard a voice say. He looked over to see the source of the voice. The villain was cloaked in what Saiyaman assumed was just random clothing that he had found all over the place. He was wearing a long sleeved yellow shirt with purple pants and an orange scarf tied around his neck. _How can he wear all of that clothing? The sun still feels like its burning me alive. _While the sun was beginning to go down, summer was still in full swing.

Looking closer Gohan noticed something that made his throat tighten. The figure had green skin. _That's not Dende or Piccolo. Another Namekian?_

The Namekian was observing the glowing boy in front of him. "I didn't know that you humans could get so strong. And you look so young too. Just who are you?" Saiyaman smiled, and launched into a serious of strange poses. At the end he shouted, "I am Saiyaman!"

The Namekian just looked at him. "What the heck is wrong with you kid?" After looking at his shocked face, the Namekian just shook his head and said, "Never mind. I don't care. If you are a human, then you will die!" The Namekian ran towards Saiyaman. "Now understand that you will be killed by Lord Slug!" The Namekian named Slug threw a punch towards Saiyaman, intending on breaking him in one punch.

Saiyaman calmly blocked the rather weak punch and threw two quick jabs into Slug's stomach. Slug grimaced at the pain. He then jumped back and wiped the spit off his face. "I see that you are not an average human. I guess that I'll have to fight at full strength then."

The superhero let the information sink in. _His full strength? He still seems confident. I need to get ready. I need to ask him though. _Looking at his opponent he asked, "Are you a Namekian?"

Slug was surprised by the question and relaxed for a moment but tensed up again. He smugly said, "You are definitely not an average human. Yes I am a Namekian."

Saiyaman then asked, "Then why are you doing this? Piccolo and Dende are Namekians too, but they aren't doing this! Please stop!" The air around Slug seemed to thicken. Saiyaman felt his knees buckle slightly. Slug spoke, "You know Piccolo? Tell me boy, were you the one who broke into the laboratory a few days ago?"

Saiyaman responded, "Yes, I did. Piccolo asked me to rescue Dende, his child." A heinous expression of hatred formed on Slug's face. "You rescued the other one, but just ignored me? Why do you humans all ignore me? Why do you all treat me like I am worthless?"

_Wait. Was this one in there too?_

Slug then ran at the superhero. He stopped short while throwing a punch, which caused Saiyaman to drop his guard in confusion. Slug's arm then extended like rubber and bypassed Saiyaman's guard, which knocked Saiyaman into the wall of a flower store. Saiyaman paused to catch his breath. _He can extend his arms? I've got to be careful of that._

Saiyaman waited too long to counter attack and Slug's other arm shot forth towards Saiyaman. The superhero expected another haymaker punch and set up to block, but Slug had foreseen his intension. The Namekian's hand latched on to Saiyaman's blocking arm and he retracted it, pulling Saiyaman back toward him. Saiyaman recovered his wits quickly and spun in the air to land a straight kick to Slug's head.

The combined force of the retraction and kick forced Slug let go of Saiyaman and tumble back a few meters. Saiyaman remained in the air. Slug stood up and got back into a fighting stance. "So you can fly too?" Slug asked the hero. "Then let's take this to the air." Slug rocketed forth and threw a kick aiming at the hero's head.

Saiyaman dodged and tried to punch but Slug maintained his momentum which allowed him to backhand and follow it with left hook. Saiyaman flew back in the air before stopping his motion and went into a defensive stance with both arms covering his head.

Slug had not moved from his spot and just floated in the air taunting Saiyaman. The hero decided to evaluate the fight. _He's somehow used to midair combat. I never have fought like this… I never thought that I would have to fight like this. I need to stall for a second. _

Saiyaman asked his enemy, "Why are you doing this? Why are you trying to kill all of these people?" He gestured to the bodies scattered around the area. "What did they ever do to you?"

Slug sneered before responding, "These people? What do I care about these people? You saw that laboratory. You know how little they thought of me. They named me Slug. One of the most insignificant creatures on this dust ball of a planet."

He cracked his neck. "You could step on a slug while walking and not notice. If that is how you humans think of me, then I will do the same to you. I will slowly eradicate this planet and not even care about the humans I squish on the way. I will complete the mission that Piccolo gave up when he splintered off with me."

Slug decided that the time to talk was over. He turned in the air and rushed at Saiyaman, ready to fight. Saiyaman intercepted Slug's punch and countered with one of his own. The pain forced Slug to calm down, and threw a right kick aiming at Saiyaman's side. The superhero blocked it with his forearm, but Slug spun in midair and threw a left hook kick across Saiyaman's exposed head.

The hero grunted from the blow, and threw a punch into Slug's stomach before throwing a powerful cross into Slug's face. Instead of simply being knocked back by the blow, Slug's neck stretched similarly to his arms a short distance. Saiyaman found himself unable to react from the unexpected turn of events and Slug's head snapped back like rubber band to head-butt Saiyaman.

The blow hit home and Saiyaman found himself tumbling out of the air, dazed. He managed to flail enough in the air to miss falling on a minivan, but still fell like a meteor onto the ground. Saiyaman started to get up, but was stopped by Slug landing on him. Saiyaman felt all the air leave him and coughed up blood.

Slug sneered and picked up the teenager by the neck and lifted him up until his feet left the ground. The Evil Namekian laughed before boasting, "Well, little human? What are you going to do now? Do you now see how insignificant you are before the Lord Slug?"

Saiyaman struggled against his grip feeling consciousness leaving his body. Slowly closing his eyes, Gohan felt a familiar presence enter his fading mind.

_Gohan! Gohan, you have got to fight back! Gohan!_

Unbeknownst to the two fighters, another being stood perched on a nearby rooftop. Dende had sensed the commotion going on in Orange Star City and had decided to investigate. He did not expect to see Gohan fighting with another Namekian. It wasn't his parent, Dende could easily tell that, but something about him seemed familiar, besides the species.

While watching the fight go on Dende had come to a decision. His exploration of the world had left him undecided on what he wanted to do. The world itself was very beautiful, but the few people he encountered were not. The few he talked to became either scared or hostile at the sight of him. After these encounters Dende had gone and retreated back toward his friend Gohan.

The battle between the Namekian and Gohan brought Dende to a decision. He would follow whoever won, no matter what he ended up doing.

**AN: So tell me what to think. This is the first instance of a DBZ-like battle and any feedback would be appreciated to improve on future battles. **

**I also know that people absolutely HATE Saiyaman's poses, but since I'm trying to keep most characters canon, they'll pop up occasionally. He'll mature with time though. They should stop. **

**Response to Reviewers:**

**Ultimate Black Ace: So you guessed some things right… I might also go and expand on the classroom discussion in the last chapter. Thanks for being the first review/follow btw. **

**Innocentsmilehehe: You expect a lot from me. I am trying to balance ordinary superhero feats with supervillain battles and school scenes. I'll try and fit in more. Also, I don't know about the crossover, but I think you'll be okay with the way the story will go. **

**Superfly: As this is my first story, I figured that there would be some problems. Let me know if the problems continue and I'll try and fix them. (If you ever start to binge this)**


	7. Graves

Chapter 7: Freedom

Slug's hand maintained a tough grip upon Saiyaman's neck. The superhero struggled to fight back, but his fading consciousness made it difficult. As he was blacking out, he heard Piccolo scream in his head. _Gohan, you have got to fight back! _

He summoned all of his remaining strength and jabbed Slug in the middle of his exposed neck. Slug gagged and let go of Saiyaman to clutch his hurting neck. Saiyaman used this opportunity to catch his breath.

_Are you okay Gohan?_ The teenager tried to concentrate on both breathing and thinking. _I think so. I don't think I'm going to pass out now. _He remembered something had wanted to ask Piccolo. _Who is this guy? Do you know him?_

Piccolo became silent. Slug regained his composure and began to walk towards Saiyaman looking furious. Saiyaman realized that he wasn't getting an answer and began to engage Slug in combat. The two exchanged blows on the ground, before Slug extended his arm to grab a trash can. He chucked the trash can at the hero before jumping into the air. Saiyaman easily moved around the attack, but was hit by an extended punch thrown by Slug.

He blocked the second punch and realized that Slug had suspended himself in the air and was throwing extended punches. While maneuvering around them Gohan heard Piccolo speak. _Yes. I do know the being you are fighting. The Namekian you are fighting… Is me. _

Saiyaman dodged a punch aimed for his head and caught his arm with an elbow and knee combination, which seemed to make him angry. _What do you mean I'm fighting you? I saw you sitting in that cave. Slug isn't you. _The superhero knocked away one of Slug's fists and grabbed on to his attempted counter. He then pulled the arm over his shoulder to throw Slug with all of this might.

Slug hit the ground hard and subconsciously tried to retract his arm, but Saiyaman lifted off of the ground and rode the arm to land a kick to Slug's head. The alien flew back from the kick but was stopped by a conveniently placed pickup truck.

_While that Namekian is by no means me, he used to be me. _Slug climbed out of the truck bed and glared at the hero. _In order to rid myself of the evil I once had, I split it off into another completely separate body. That creature was consumed by evil and could barely function correctly. I had thought him dead. _

Slug spit on to the ground. "It seems as though fighting you is a waste of time. I guess I'll have to use this." Slug's face changed to concentrated. Saiyaman prepared himself for an attack. It never came. Instead, Gohan's mind became filled with cruel images and painful scenes. Saiyaman fell to his knees, clutching his head.

_What is going on? Why is my head suddenly on fire? What are these scenes?_ Pain filled Saiyaman's mind. He witnessed people dying miserable deaths. He even witnessed his own death in multiple ways.As quick as it began, it stopped, and Saiyaman trembled back on his feet, panting from fear. _What was that? What did I see?_

Slug looked at him confused. "What the?" He then realized something. "_He _must be protecting you. Revolting." Saiyaman realized that he must be talking about Piccolo. _Piccolo must be protecting me from whatever Slug just did. I need to act fast. _He rolled up the sleeves on his shirt to lessen the heat. _One of us will get heat stroke before long._

Saiyaman sprang into action. He closed the distance between him and Slug in a heartbeat and launched into an offensive strategy. He had learned from his mistake of attacking Slug's head, and concentrated on nailing as many straight body blows as he could. Slug blocked what he could before picking up on his enemy's strategy. The Namekian knocked away a jab aimed at his stomach and nailed Saiyaman in the gut. The two then continued to trade blows. After dodging what felt to be Saiyaman's tenth straight kick, Slug propelled himself into the air.

Saiyaman watched the Namekian glide up in the air. During Slug's ascent, he noticed the Namekian bobble a bit in the air before righting himself and clutching his head. _What was that?_ He was not able to dwell on it as Slug yelled down at him. "Alright human! You have pushed me far enough. Now, I am definitely going to squish you!"

The Namekian yelled into the sky and Saiyaman noticed with dread that Slug appeared to be getting larger. Piccolo decided to reenter Gohan's mind._Slug seems to have stopped his attempts at attacking your mind. I will continue to guide you now. _

_Piccolo! What is Slug trying to do? _Slug had now grown to be the size of a small house and was still growing._We Namekians can extend our bodies with much more freedom than other lifeforms. Right now, he is doing this expansion for his entire body. It is a very dangerous strategy, but very deadly. _

_Well what am I supposed to do about this? His punch could take out a city block! _

Piccolo did not answer him immediately. Slug had appeared to reach his full height, standing well over some of the smaller buildings. His clothes had somehow still managed to cover the Namekian. He looked down at Saiyaman with glee. "Well Saiyaman? Who is the insect now?" He however did not let his enemy answer and raised his foot to step on Saiyaman. The superhero sprang into action and flew away from Slug's foot.

Saiyaman decided that the best place to be was in the air. He dodged a punch from Slug and positioned himself above Slug. He then decided to evaluate his options. _He's obviously powerful. His speed doesn't seem to have diminished greatly. So what do I do? _

Slug glared at the fly buzzing around his head. He then pushed off the ground which created a shockwave that blew objects on the ground around. He flew at Saiyaman intending on tackling his enemy. Saiyaman hesitated for a moment and wasn't able to dodge Slug's massive shoulder. The impact jarred Saiyaman to his bones. The teenager flew through the air and crashed into an apartment building, the wall caving slightly.

Saiyaman opened his eyes to see Slug's hummer-sized fist coming at him. He erased his hesitation and pushed off of the wall to avoid Slug's fist. He then flew straight toward the behemoth intending on bringing the offensive. He pushed off of Slug's bicep and landed a flying uppercut to Slug's chin.

Slug staggered back on the ground and tripped over a heroic truck. Saiyaman waited for his opponent to get up while he shook his arm in pain. _Ugh. That punch almost dislocated my shoulder. I've got to do something else. _He then became aware of a liquid covering his body that wasn't his sweat. _Ew. Is this Slug's sweat? He must be pouring. Wait a minute. _Saiyaman remembered that Dende had expressed his displeasure of the heat. _ He could pass out from the heat. _

Saiyaman realized how great of an idea that was._ This heat must be killing Slug. In those clothes and his large size he must be exhausted. _

Saiyaman yelled down his enemy. "Hey! I bet that size has made you slow and dumb! Try and catch me!" He then blasted into the sky in a streak of gold. Slug sneered and followed into the air. Saiyaman flew higher than he had ever before, reaching well over the cirrus clouds. _Now he won't have any shade. _

Slug joined the teenager in the air. "Done running kid?" Saiyaman just smiled then responded by flying toward the giant. Slug tried to intercept his flight with a punch, but the hero dodged the punch and punched the Namekian in the inside of his elbow. _I've got to attack the places that are weak no matter strength or size. As long as he doesn't hit me, I'm fine. I'll just tire him out. _

Slug grunted at the pain done to his nerves, but continued to try and swat the fly out of the air. He threw more swipes, but Saiyaman dodged them all by a hair. After one swipe, Saiyaman made an attempt to do the same trick on Slug's elbow, but Slug anticipated it and grabbed him in his right hand. Slug smiled with glee at his accomplishment and tightened his grip on the poor boy.

Saiyaman struggled to get free of the giant's hand, but Slug's grip was iron tight. "Finally! Human, your time has come. After you are dead, the whole Earth will fall under the boot of Lord Slug." Slug then began to clench his hand to crush Saiyaman to death. The teenager struggled against the pressure. _I've got to get out! He'll crush me!_

He somehow noticed that Slug's massive hand was also covered in sweat. _If I just…_ The teenager reacted quickly. He began to switch all of his efforts into twisting around in Slug's hand. His spinning combined with the slickness of Slug's hand caused Saiyaman to rocket out of Slug's grip like a torpedo, propelled by the very force the giant was applying.

The teenager righted himself in midair and couldn't stop the smile that appeared on his face as he caught his breath.

Slug just looked even more pissed. "You insignificant little…" He then charged again at the hero. The two then engaged in another brawl. Slug managed to backhand Saiyaman through the air. Saiyaman caught Slug in the side of his midsection after Slug through a sloppy punch. The two exchanged blows for a few moments.

Slug lifted his leg to knee Saiyaman, but the hero anticipated the blow and leaped with its force to attack the giant's head. He landed a punch to Slug's cheek and followed with a hook to Slug's temple. The concentrated force dazed Slug and made him fall a few meters in the sky. He righted himself in the air and looked back up at the glowing human.

He then got a confused look on his face and said, "What the? How are you making clones of yourself? What are you doing?"

Saiyaman looked around the air and didn't see anyone. _He must be hallucinating. _Slug then clutched his head and started to fall back to earth.

Saiyaman realized that he could crush someone if he fell back to the city and flew down after him. He reached Slug's underside and tried to slow its descent. Saiyaman strained his muscles trying to slow down the massive dead load. He glanced down at the city to see the earth slowing approaching him. It forced him to put all of his effort into flying up and began to notice some deceleration.

Saiyaman saw the ground coming to meet them and let go of Slug to move out of the way. He shot away as fast as he could and ended up flying into the ground and tumbled across the road. He couldn't quite stop the falling creature, but slowed him enough to prevent him from smashing a building. Instead Slug laid across a few buildings as if he had passed out on the street after drinking too much at a bar.

Gohan was seriously starting to worry about his sanity. The head blows could catch up to him.

Saiyaman stared up at the passed out Namekian for a moment to observe movement, but luckily the giant stayed unconscious. Saiyaman allowed exhaustion to overcome him and laid back on the ground to think about his next move. _What do I do with Slug? It's not like we can put him in jail. I can't just leave him somewhere on Earth either… _His thoughts were interrupted by a voice.

"Saiyaman!" The hero sat up to look for the source of the voice and ended up face to face with two blue eyes. "Miss Videl! I thought I told you to stay away from the fight." Videl glared at him, before saying, "You told me to help people around here. From where I was, you looked either passed out or dead. Don't blame me."

Saiyaman had the grace to look sheepish. Without recognizing it, he started to rub the back of his head with his hand. "Uh yeah. I guess I did. Sorry about that." Videl noticed the gesture and realized that it looked familiar. _What the…?_ She derailed herself from that train of thought when she noticed the giant green humanoid laying across some buildings like a drunk.

Looking at the glowing hero in front of her she asked, "So… Is that thing dead?" Saiyaman grew solemn upon hearing that word. "I do not believe so. I think he has just passed out from the heat." He then put on a thoughtful face. "Unfortunately, I do not know what to do with him… No jail will hold him. At least none that I know."

Videl shared his sediment. "I agree. I don't know what can be done about him either." Gulping she added, "And I don't want to just kill him…" The two stared down at the ground for a moment thinking. Videl looked like an idea occurred to her and opened her mouth to speak. "How about-"

Videl was not able to finish, as a large hand grabbed her and pulled her away. Saiyaman helplessly yelled, "Videl!" as he watched the hand return to its position. Slug had managed to regain consciousness and was weakly standing upon a knee on the building. He jumped down on to the street, and Saiyaman could see that his eyes only showed hate. "Well Saiyaman? What will you do now?" He wheezed. "Watch helplessly as I crush the girl like a bug!"

Slug's face changed into concentration. Saiyaman could do nothing else but reach helplessly toward Videl. "Stop! Videl!" Saiyaman felt nothing else but desperation at that moment. He could do all of these amazing things but was powerless at this moment. He could not save one single person. Saiyaman felt a power build up inside of him. Seeking an exit, the power left his body from his outstretched hand. Out of his hand came a beam of pale yellow energy.

The beam came into contact with Slug's arm that was holding Videl. Slug let out a yell of agony and dropped Videl to where she began to fall toward the ground. Saiyaman forced himself to react to her danger and sped over to her falling form. He caught her in his arms and lowered her back onto the ground. The panting girl somehow managed to squeak out a "Thanks," to her savior.

Saiyaman nodded to her and refocused on his opponent. "Get away from here. He's still dangerous." He observed Videl leave his peripheral vison but kept his eyes focused on Slug as his battle instincts focused him to. Slug's right arm was horribly burned. The green skin on his arm had turned a blueish green and was smoking. The hero smelt the barest whiff of burning flesh.

The rest of Slug looked even worse than the condition his arm was in. He was panting heavily, trying to endure the pain coming from his arm nerves. He tried to move his arm but it only twitched in response to his command. Saiyaman noticed the action. "It's over Slug. You are in no condition to fight anymore. Give up."

"Give up! How could I give up?" Slug seethed. "Hate has been the only thing that gave me the power to live. How could I just give up now? You pathetic human. I'll make you suffer!"

Slug then griped his arm just under his shoulder. Saiyaman looked on, confused at his actions. Slug then gave out a mighty roar and pulled on it with his left arm. A moment passed before Slug's injured arm came free from the rest of his body in a spurt of blood and dropped lifelessly to the ground. Saiyaman could only look at Slug horrified at what he just saw.

"What is the matter with you? Why did you just rip your own arm off?" Saiyaman could not come up with a good answer for the strange scenario he had just witnessed. Slug's answer was to close his eyes in concentration. After a moment he yelled again. This time, out of where Slug's injured arm used to be, burst another arm.

Slug opened and closed his new fist with a smile on his face. "Well Saiyaman? Shall we continue?" Saiyaman did not give an answer and Lord Slug followed his surprised gaze to his new arm. He smirked and said, "What, surprised at my power? You humans are so feeble with your frail bodies." He allowed himself to glance at his arm for the first time and discovered why his enemy was so transfixed upon his arm.

Slug realized with horror that his arm had not regenerated properly. The normally well-defined muscle had popped out scrawny and pathetic. He also noticed that the new arm did not reach its full length and was about a half a foot short. The color was also off. The normal deep green was replaced in places with a raw light green.

Slug couldn't understand what had gone wrong with the regeneration. Why had his arm deformed so badly? Slug stood his ground staring at his arm and ignoring the world around him. Without warning, Slug felt a great onslaught of pain fill his head. He fell to his knees and tried to stop his fall with his arms. On all fours he started to wheeze heavily, saliva falling to the ground.

Saiyaman watched his enemy fall to the ground in obvious pain. His whole body took up all four lanes of the road. Despite all that had just happened, Gohan felt some sympathy for the guy hacking up a storm in front of him. He began to wonder what he should be doing right now. Slug answered his question for him.

Slug's massive arms gave out and gravity forced his body down on to the road. He looked up at his enemy standing in front of him. He reached out with his good arm at Saiyaman. The hero saw the most helpless look on the face of the once proud Namekian warrior, who wheezed, "Water… I need water… I'm dying…" Despite all of the battle instincts that told the warrior to let the Namekian die, Gohan hastily looked around the street to find a source of water. He saw an overturned hotdog cart laying by a music store and looked through its contents to try and find some water bottles at least. Based on Slug's size Gohan figured that it would take a swimming pool to satisfy the giant.

He only found a few bottles that weren't smashed and started to look around for another source, but ended up looking back at Slug. The Namekian had started to shrink in response to his condition, but his upper body seemed to be shrinking faster than his lower body. His skin was also becoming wrinkled. Gohan realized that he wasn't a doctor, but he deduced that Slug needed water bad.

He stopped his plan to find more water and instead ran over to the prone alien. He put the bottles down beside the alien's head and noticed that the shrinking had stopped, leaving Slug somewhere between giant and normal. He lifted up on Slug's head to search for signs of life but saw none. Despite himself, Saiyaman stood up shakily.

_He's dead Gohan. There's nothing that you can do._ Gohan mind reeled at the new voice. _Piccolo! What just happened? Slug's dead?_

_Yes. We Namekians only require water to live, but it is very essential in our bodies. Our bodies will shut down much quicker than human's bodies when faced with dehydration. A sane Namekian would not fight on low water reserves and especially not expand their body to that size with low water. Slug was just not focused on his wellbeing in his desire to kill. All of these factors combined with the heat seriously diminished his water supply._

_The final straw was his forced regeneration. His already low water supply was spread out even thinner upon that action. As you could see, there wasn't enough water left to complete the regeneration of his cells. _

_So that's it. He died from water loss… Why do I feel so guilty? I feel like I killed the guy! _

_Don't feel guilty Gohan. You did what you had to. It was his desire to destroy that in the end killed him. You gave him every option to surrender. He did not. You can't let this death change you Gohan. _

Gohan remained silent. _Think of how many people you saved Gohan. That girl standing behind you, for instance._ Saiyaman processed this information quickly and spun around to see Videl standing a few paces behind him. "Miss Videl. You're back…" Videl nodded and walked over to stand beside Saiyaman. The two just stood there looking at the dead alien in silence.

_Gohan… There is one more thing… As he and I where once the same creature, we are connected in a spiritual bond. I do not know how his death will affect me. It may speed my own death along. So… _The speaking abruptly stopped. Gohan almost thought something to Piccolo, but his telepathy continued. _…send you mental training. Just think of me and follow your instincts to access them. _

_I will leave you one last thing. Make us proud, Gohan._

Before Gohan could respond, he felt Piccolo's presence leave him. _So Piccolo's gone then… Who is "us"? _He would have continued to think, but felt Videl nudge him. "Hello? Earth to Saiyaman? You there?" Saiyaman turned to Videl and laughed. "Yeah sorry. I was just thinking. Did you ask something?"

Videl nodded. "Yeah. I asked if he was dead. Did you kill him?" Saiyaman flinched at the question, but answered truthfully, "He's dead, but I didn't kill him. I think he was malnourished and died due to dehydration." Videl smiled. "Good. I don't think I could ever support you if you did…" After a pause she added, "So what are you going to do now? Give this thing to the police?"

Saiyaman shook his head. "No I'm not going to do that. I think I'll go bury him. He at least deserves that much." Videl seemed to agree with him. "I think that's the best move. I heard a little of what he said earlier. I also recognize the look in his eyes. He was so full of hate… Like he didn't feel as if he had a choice."

A moment passed, before Saiyaman said, "I'm going to leave now. Before the police arrive and start to ask questions." Videl nodded her agreement and Saiyaman began to make his way under the semi giant. Saiyaman did his best to balance the body but before he could leave Videl interrupted him. "Wait! How do you do these things…?" She gestured to indicate his strength.

Saiyaman just shrugged. "Don't know."

"Don't know! What do you mean you don't know? You can fly and lift cars and you don't know how?"

"Sounds about right."

"How is that possible? How could you not know?"

Saiyaman thought for a moment. "How do you convert food to energy?" Videl just looked at him perplexed. "Well it's converted to nutrients and then… I don't know the specifics. What does that even matter?" Saiyaman smiled. "Then why does it matter to me?" He then blasted off before Videl could respond.

Angry, she watched him fly away before yelling, "Don't you just run away! I'm going to figure out who you are, Saiyaman! Count on it!"

The burden upon Gohan's shoulders was heavy and he was tired, but he managed to carry Slug's half giant body out of the city limits. He flew over to a heavy forested area a couple of miles outside the city and descended much quicker than Gohan hoped. His knees buckled against the ground, but he stood his ground. He gently put Slug down and began to think about his next plan.

He grimly noticed the absence of a shovel, and figured that he would have to dig with his hands. Signing he reluctantly began to dig in an area.

His slow digging was interrupted by another presence arriving at the area. He looked up to see Dende slowly descending holding two shovels. Gohan stood up, excited to see his friend. "Dende! You're back! I wasn't expecting to see you back so soon!" Dende smiled to Gohan and said, "Yes, I have returned. My journey around the Earth, while short, was enlightening. I have learned much about this world."

The realization of the situation hit Gohan like a fist. _Oh no… _He looked back at the dead Namekian. _Does Dende blame me for Slug's death? Does he think that I killed another Namekian? He has already been a part of humans degrading Namekians. What is he here to do? _

Dende seemed to notice his hesitation. "It's alright Gohan." He then lifted up a shovel. "Do you want to continue digging? I wish to help." Gohan smiled and nodded before taking the shovel. The two then began to dig in silence. Dende eventually broke the silence. "So Gohan. This man… Slug was it? He was once the same being as my parent." Gohan affirmed the statement with a nod. "Our people are a peaceful race by nature. The evil that my parent witnessed eventually became too much for him to bear. He then was forced to purge the evil as a separate being. This being, this Slug, could not even function normally, due to his hateful heart. It consumed him."

"This is all that I learned from my parent and from observing the situation." Dende finished his brief summery. The two then again dug in silence, the only sounds coming from the collision of dirt and metal.

Gohan then felt like he had to say something. "Dende… Listen. I didn't want Slug to die… I was just trying to defend the city and-" Dende cut him off. "Gohan, stop. I do not blame you for the death of my brother. You did what you had to do. I was actually watching the entire fight from a distance."

That Gohan didn't know. "I didn't know you were there! So you saw everything, then."

Dende replied, "Yes. I saw Slug trying to kill and destroy people. I also saw you trying to save him." Dende then stopped digging their makeshift grave and looked at Gohan. The absence of sound forced Gohan to look at his friend. "Even after Slug tried to destroy the city and kill that other human, you tried to save his life. I don't believe that the other humans would react the same way."

Gohan didn't respond. The Namekian continued, "After seeing you react that way, I reached a decision. I want to be like you. I want to aid you in helping people. While I have no reason to help these people, you had no reason in helping my fallen brother. I want to join you in being a superzero."

Gohan couldn't stop the laugh. "It's super_hero_ Dende… And I think that's a great idea. You can show the world just how good your people can be. I support you."

Dende smiled and said, "Good. I'm glad you think that way. I just need to figure out how to live and become a part of your city without scaring people." Gohan couldn't come up with an answer immediately and the two eventually finished the extremely large grave. Gohan lifted up on the upper body of the semi-giant while Dende lifted up the lower body with some difficulty.

_He must not quite as strong as Slug yet. But if Slug is anything to go by, Dende could be really strong soon enough. _

They lowered the fallen Namekian into the ground and began to cover him up with dirt. Gohan remembered Piccolo. "Oh yeah… Dende, what should we do with Piccolo?" The Namekian frowned and said, "I do not wish to bury him immediately. I believe that he could eventually recover. We should do something about his body, however."

Gohan thought for a moment and said, "We could cover up his cave with a stone or something. It's the best thing I can come up with right now." Dende smiled and said, "Works for me."

After finishing the grave, the two paid their respects to the fallen Namekian and left for Piccolo's cave to cover another.

* * *

"Uh Gohan, are you sure that we can trust this person?" Dende asked his friend.

"Well… Not really, but she is the only one who I think can help. I've talked to her once and I trust her greatly." Gohan realized that his sales pitch wasn't the greatest, but Bulma was the only person in the city that he knew to go to for help. He couldn't let Dende come home with him, for obvious reasons, and anyone else didn't make sense. He didn't want to force Dende to live somewhere by himself like a loner. So the list was narrowed down to Bulma. She did owe him one, after all.

The two were standing in front of Bulma's resistance after neatly flying over her gate and security. Gohan gathered up the courage and ringed Bulma's intercom. He was answered by a younger sounding girl. "Yes? Who is it?"

Gohan, currently Saiyaman, cleared his throat and answered. "Excuse me Miss. This is Saiyaman. Is Mrs. Briefs here?" A pause. Then Gohan heard a fading voice yelling, "Heyyyyy. Mommmm! The superhero guy is at the door!"

Gohan wondered when superheroes started giving house calls. Eventually the door opened and Bulma Briefs still dressed in work clothes answered the door. She said happily, "So Saiyaman? Here to gloat about your heroic efforts to-" She suddenly stopped upon seeing Dende standing beside the glowing superhero.

Gohan suddenly became nervous and hesitantly said, "So uh… This guy here is Dende. He's a-"

"Are you a Namekian!?" Bulma suddenly exclaimed. "I didn't know there were more of you here! Do you know Piccolo?"

Dende hesitantly said, "Yes. He is my parent. How do you know him?"

Gohan also had questions. "How do you know him!?"

Bulma scoffed before saying, "I know more than you think I know. The green bean and I go way back. Before Trunks or Bulla were even born. But-" She then looked around the area. "-We should go inside. I have a feeling that we have much to discuss."

She then went into her house, beckoning the teenagers in with her. The two entered, wondering how everything was going to go now.

* * *

Light-years away from Earth, a lone spaceship was traveling through the infinite void. The spaceship was shaped like an expanded disk with yellow bulges around the exterior. Inside, the ship's captain sat alone in his chair catching up on reports from across his empire. It was times like this that the captain loved. Peace and quiet. He never was one for conversation.

So when one of his subjects entered the door and interrupted him, he became angry. He decided to wait for the soldier to report before he killed him. "Speak."

The soldier stood at attention, terrified of his master. He gulped, feeling hotter as the temperature in the room lessened. "L-Lord. We have been searching the galaxy for Blutz waves as you have commanded. We have located a planet in the galaxy that seems to be releasing a tremendous amount of Blutz waves."

The ruler lessened his gaze, the temperature returning to normal. "Excellent. Most excellent. So you think that he could be there?"

The alien was afraid of placing the blame on him, in case scanners were reporting false alarms, so he responded with, "It's highly possible, my lord."

The lord's mouth changed into a smile. "Excellent. Then change our course from my home planet to this planet. Let's pay our friend Vegeta a visit."

The soldier saluted and answered with, "Yes, Lord Freiza."

**AN: So the Namekian Arc is over. I guess I should go ahead and reveal some of my plans for this story. I want to have a full-fledged superhero team like the Justice League or Avengers by the end of the story. Gohan and Dende are the first two. Go ahead and guess some of the other heroes I have planned. It'll be fun.**

**So we have Superman and Martian Manhunter already in the story. Stay tuned to see other characters introduced. One question though. Would you guys be okay with a canon hero who has non-canon powers? I have a few characters in mind. I just don't want to go overboard. So feedback would be appreciated. **


	8. Interlude

Chapter 8: Interlude

**Edit Log: Details of Dende's thought process were added to Chapter 6.**

**AN: So I'm not at all happy with the way the Slug Saga came out. I guess I was just so eager to bring the first DBZ villain in that I skimped on dialogue and development. I'm going to write slower to make sure everything fits. Again, this is still technically my first story, so I'm working out some of the kinks. **

**Also, I spent some time analyzing Dragon Ball villains for ways to incorporate them into the story. However, THEY ARE ALL ALIENS (except for Gero and his posse). I don't want this story to be some kind of War of the Worlds thing where Gohan just fights aliens all day. So look for a lot a Dragon Ball villains to show up. There are many of them that have one time gag abilities that would make great comic book villains. **

"Well I have no idea what to do here. Gohan? Do you have any ideas?" Gohan glanced over from his own work to look at Sharpner's work. He scouted over the paper before brightening up and saying, "I see. I think I've already done what you are still on. Here let me show you." He grabbed his own sheet of paper and put it between him and Sharpner. He pointed at a line of his paper that showed an equation. "So you see, you just begin with this equation and then you…" He trailed off, because he noticed that his friend was covering his face with his head.

"Uh Sharpner, what's wrong?" Sharpener just sighed and looked at his friend. "How on Earth do you understand all of this? I'm completely lost."

Gohan and his friends were all in their Calculus class doing group work. Videl and Erasa were huddled together in the seats beside the boys, which left Sharpner and Gohan to work together. Or, left Gohan to help Sharpner.

Gohan just hesitantly laughed and said, "Uh, I really don't know. I guess I'm just good at math." The blond just looked at Gohan. "Yeah, you're good at math. And physics. And history."

"Don't feel bad Sharpner. You've got Gohan beat when it comes to athleticism. There's no way Gohan could be tough." Another voice cut in. Gohan looked around to see Videl talking to the pair. "Isn't that right Sharp'?" The blond looked like he wanted to say something, but relaxed and said, "No Videl, you're right. You're definitely right."

He then looked back to Gohan, to tell Videl that the conversation was over. Videl frowned, then looked back at her other friend. Gohan gave Sharpner a questioning glance. Sharpner responded to the look with, "She can be tough to deal with sometimes. Listen. I know you are a strong guy. I don't want to be the one to tell anyone how tough you are." He pushed him in the chest with his fist. "You should be the one to show it."

Gohan didn't really understand his friend's logic, but went with it anyway. While Gohan wasn't the most socially aware guy on the planet, he did kind of realize that most people in the school thought of him as a bit of a nerd. He knew that he dressed differently than most students and he was smart. Sharpner had also told him one day that he had an aura about him that exuded nerdiness. Gohan really didn't know what to think of that.

Gohan just grinned sheepishly and said, "Uh, thanks Sharpner." Sharpner just shrugged. "I just hate rumors." The two lapsed into silent for a moment, until Sharpener said, "Anyway, how do you do this problem?" Gohan smiled and started to explain something that he understood.

Class ended shortly and the four left their class to head for their specific classes. Gohan actually shared a class with Erasa for second period, Economics. It was one of the few periods that the quartet separated. Gohan didn't mind. While he had not spent much time outside school with Erasa, he enjoyed sitting with her here. Both were pretty good at economics, probably with a slight edge to Erasa. Gohan figured she got it from her dad.

The class was being taught by a woman named Mrs. Kina. She was fairly elderly, with white hair tied up in a bun. Gohan really liked her. She was a good teacher and provided an occasional spurt of spunk to keep the class interesting. The two students took their seat and waited for class to begin. Kina followed the ringing of the bell with the continuation of her previous lecture. The class settled into the familiar routine.

Gohan couldn't help but smile at his recognition of the routine. He wasn't complaining, however. After rescuing an alien from an underground laboratory and fighting another alien to the death, he rather liked being able to sit in a class and take notes.

Dende was still residing at Bulma's house recuperating. While Dende was not ill from his time in the laboratory he still needed much of what Bulma was calling physical therapy. His body was not used to its new found activity and Bulma was going through some activities with him. She had yelled at him for just leaving to wander around the Earth without any sort of recovery. She had yelled at Saiyaman too. Gohan had to admit that Bulma had serious guts.

Bulma had also hinted that Dende needed some sort of psychological recovery. While Dende seemed okay to Gohan, he figured that Bulma knew best.

The intercom suddenly dinged to indicate an upcoming message. 'Students and faculty of Orange Star High, please listen for this important alert. A dangerous and hostile person has been reported nearby. All students and faculty are required to remain indoors. Teachers, please keep your students in your classrooms. Stand by for future instructions.'

The intercom buzzed into silence. There was a moment of silence before the classroom burst into a fury of panicked voices. Gohan himself was slightly panicked. _A dangerous person? Does this situation call for Saiyaman? Even if it did, could I even get out of this room right now? _

Erasa noticed the panicked look on her friends face and tapped his shoulder to gain his attention. Gohan looked over to see that Erasa had taken her phone out. Gohan looked at the software she currently had out and didn't recognize it. "Uh, Erasa, what's this?"

Erasa gave him a tired look. "You don't know what this is?" Gohan shook his head. Erasa sighed. "What was I expecting? This is a social media site. People are on here reporting about what is going on with this situation." Gohan looked through the scrolling text. He saw things like: 'armored man,' 'guns,' 'explosions,' and 'flipping cars.' From the limited information he was given, Gohan was able to come to a conclusion.

_This 'armored man' seems to be extremely dangerous. I think Saiyaman should be on the scene. If this guy is flipping cars, then the police might not be able to handle him. The only question is how to get out of here._

Thinking for a moment, Gohan came up with a few ideas for escape, none of them guaranteed. The worried sounds coming from the other students only made him more anxious. Gathering his courage he raised his hand. "Excuse me Mrs. Kina? This situation is making me nervous. Could I please go to the bathroom?"

The teacher just gave Gohan a "Really?" look before responding, "Sorry Gohan. I could lose my job if someone sees you walking around. You'll have to hold it." Gohan sunk back into his chair. "Yes ma'am." He could hear snickers coming from around the classroom. Blushing slightly Gohan realized that he would have to go with Plan B. It definitely wouldn't be pretty.

Waiting a moment, Gohan slowly increased his breathing rate. After his breathing became fairly fast, Erasa looked over to her friend in concern. Talking quietly she asked, "Gohan? Are you okay?" Gohan faked panic and quickly said, "No I'm not okay! This guy's going to kill us all! We're all doomed!" The class was listening by this point in time and were looking at him concerned.

Gohan stood up quickly, knocking his chair over. Trying to sound frantic he said, "I've got to get out of here!" He then ran out of the room before anyone could say or do anything to stop him. As the door closed he could hear Erasa yell, "Gohan!" but he didn't have time to dwell on it. He found an unlocked door that led outside and hid his clothes before powering up and blasting off.

During his battle with Slug, he had realized that he had been overconfident about his abilities. He had made it a goal to do some training in order to enhance his abilities. He had done some heavy lifting since then, but had not been able to spar with Sharpner yet. He hoped that this weakness didn't show up during this fight.

He quickly found the scene of the incident. Lines of flashing police cars were all parked around a cocoon of broken cars and trucks that seemed to be covering something. Saiyaman scouted the area for signs of conflict. He saw none, but he did see a familiar face. He quickly descended and landed next to the police chief, Hercule Satan. The chief saw the movement out of corner of his eye and quickly turned around, pointing his gun at Saiyaman.

Saiyaman instantly put his hands up and said, "Whoa, whoa chief, it's me!" Hercule sighed and relaxed before putting his gun down. "Saiyaman. It's been a while." He then glanced toward the car cocoon. "So I guess you're here to help with that."

Saiyaman nodded, his hair remaining tense. "I heard that there was some kind of armored man flipping cars and such. Is that true?" Hercule peered over at the cars before saying, "Yes, although there is no way that this thing is a simple man. He has to be some sort of robot, similar to the first incident a while back. His apparent strength is one indicator. Another indicator is the the sounds we've heard from this thing. The bullets are making a metal on metal sound when they hit him. Once you see him, you'll be able to tell he's not human."

"Fortunately, we are a little more prepared to deal with this thing then we were able to deal with the other two incidents." He looked at Saiyaman. Thanks for that by the way."

"It's my duty, chief. Nothing else."

Hercule snorted. "Yeah, whatever. Anyway, after we got the report of this guy I gathered my best men and prepared for the worst. We still don't have the capabilities to completely destroy these freaks. No offense."

Saiyaman just shrugged.

"We managed to pin it down here, but it made itself a fort out of those cars. We've been laying a siege since then. We haven't seen any other movement from him." Saiyaman was beginning to understand the situation. He posed a question to Hercule, "Do you have any read on his motives?"

Hercule snorted. "Not at all. All that we know is that this robot just randomly showed up nearby about half-an-hour ago. It's just created chaos around the city. It's harder to read than my daughter."

Gohan could appreciate the joke.

"So what should be done about this chief?" Hercule sighed. "Honestly kid, I really don't know. Our bullets haven't been doing anything against his armor."

Gohan's eyes narrowed. "Listen chief, I know that I can take this thing out. I'm going to engage it. Call your men down." Saiyaman then leaped from his cover to in front of the car cocoon, ignoring Hercule yell at him. He stood in front of the cocoon, waiting for any sign of the threat. Suddenly, a car shot out from the cocoon and a figure emerged from it. Saiyaman went into a fighting stance and studied the figure in front of him.

The figure was hulking, much larger than the first one Saiyaman fought. It was about a foot taller than Saiyaman and his shoulders were easily twice the width of Saiyaman's shoulders. Its body was mostly gray, with a white plate covering its fake chest and abs. What was odd about it was that its body was designed to imitate a male's body, with artificial muscles that would put body builders to shame. On the middle of its body was a red "11."

The android observed Saiyaman for a moment before speaking in a hollow genderless voice. "Target acquired. Engaging." It then sprinted toward Saiyaman, its feet making heavy clanking sounds on the pavement. Saiyaman readied himself for its approach and dodged its first clumsy punch. The machine paused for a moment and threw another wild punch toward Saiyaman. The hero ducked underneath it and threw a tough uppercut towards its jaw. The android stumbled back from the blow but, feeling no pain, it immediately tried to reengage his opponent.

Saiyaman was shaking his hand from punching thick metal and was caught off guard by a metallic kick. Saiyaman was knocked back a short distance before righting himself and defending the follow up kick from the aggressive robot. _This thing is powerful. It also doesn't feel pain from my attacks. I just need match it in strength. _Saiyaman took a deep breath to compose himself and threw a punch at the android's chest.

The blow jarred Saiyaman, but he followed up with a powerful cross to force the robot back a few paces. The robot then righted itself and charged again at Saiyaman. The hero anticipated the attack and was able to launch a powerful Kenpo style kick to its abdomen. The powerful blow sent the android flying back through the air and into a nearby store.

Saiyaman waited for his enemy to come back out while rubbing his sore wrists. _That had to damage him. That kick would shatter concrete. _

The android slowly stepped out of the wreckage. Saiyaman noticed a sizeable dent in its body. _Good. I can damage him then. If I do that… _The android locked his eyes on Saiyaman and charged at him. Saiyaman readied himself for the attack. Suddenly, gun shots rang out across the street and the android started to be pelted by bullets. The robot ignored the bullets and continued to charge at Saiyaman.

The police intervention forced Saiyaman to change his plans in fear of the bullets. He instead took to the sky. The android stopped in his tracks and looked at his opponent in the air. It quickly finished its calculations and bent it knees. Saiyaman just stared at it. _What does it plan on doing? Is it going to shoot me? _

The android suddenly jumped off of the ground and into the air. Saiyaman was surprised to see the hunk of metal flying at him but managed to avoid its initial wild charge. Saiyaman watched it fly by and noticed how it was flying. _Jet propulsion._ A device had popped out of his back which appeared to be some sort of jet pack. Its feet also seemed to be emitting the same energy. Saiyaman processed the new information. _It can crush steel and can fly? Who is making these thing? Who can? _

Saiyaman wasn't able to process the information, as the android again was gliding toward the teenager. Saiyaman caught its punch and flung it over his shoulder. The android struggled to right itself in the air and flew through the air flailing madly. Unfortunately, it was able to right itself, and began to fly back toward Saiyaman.

Saiyaman and the android engaged in a brawl in midair. After blocking a punch Saiyaman retaliated with a punch to the dented portion of its body, caving it further. The android did not register the hit and grabbed his enemy's arm and twisted to gain position behind his opponent. He landed a mean punch into the teenager's lower back. Saiyaman bent backward with the force, spit flying from his mouth.

The android did not let Saiyaman recover and flung him downwards. Saiyaman was able to right himself in the air and landed on the ground with both feet, in a crouched position. He pushed off the ground, cracking the concrete in the process, and flew back at the android. His opponent responded by flying toward his opponent with a punch outstretched.

Saiyaman noticed this and twisted in midair, to not only dodge his opponent's punch but to land a spinning kick to his opponent's open backside. He felt the metal crack underneath his foot and launched the robot downward.

Saiyaman remained in midair, awaiting the robot's counterattack. Instead, the android kept falling down, flailing in an attempt to right itself. The hero noticed this and began to descend. The android hit the ground with a loud thud and ceased moving. Saiyaman slowly descended next to his opponent, eying it warily.

He waited a moment before seeing no signs of movement and relaxed. He took a deep breath and began to think of what his next move was. _I suppose that I should bring this thing to Bulma, like the other one. I wonder if she made any progress with the first._

Hercule approached the teenager, cautious of any moves that either party could make. "Well, thanks son. You've really helped us out again." Saiyaman quickly turned to the new party and smiled. "Don't mention it, Chief. I'm just doing what I think is right. I enjoy helping people."

"That's the thing kid. As much as I appreciate you saving this city, I still need you to go through the proper channels. That means the police. If you want to keep this up, you're going to have to go through the police." His eyes then narrowed. "And that includes disclosure of your identity."

Saiyaman didn't know how to react to the sudden indication of animosity. "Chief, I can't just give up my identity! What happens to my normal life? My family will be in danger!"

Hercule tried to calm him down. "Listen. We can keep everything a secret. You don't have to be a public figure."

Saiyaman still couldn't buy it. "I'm sorry. I can't believe you. Someone could find out and endanger my family and loved ones. It's safer to everyone this way."

Hercule sighed. "I was afraid that you would say that. This makes you a vigilante. We don't allow reckless vigilantes endangering themselves and others. This, unfortunately, makes you an enemy of the OSPD." In the hero's silence, he crouched down next to the android. "And now I need to confiscate this thing. We need to research it to determine who exactly is building these things and why."

This brought Saiyaman out of his stupor. "Wait! I need to take this! I know someone who knows about these things."

This caught the chief's attention. "And just who is this someone?" Saiyaman cracked a smile. "You know I can't tell you that."

Hercule grunted. "I figured. But I can't let you take this. It's official police business." The argument was beginning to anger Saiyaman. "What do you know about it? I can take this to someone who needs it."

"Back off son. Or unless you want to add 'ignoring a police officer' to your list of crimes." Saiyaman began to argue his rebuttal, but was stopping by a clicking noise. He glanced down to see the android pointing a gun-arm at him. Hercule made to grab his only source of protection, his gun. Saiyaman acted quicker and pointed his arm at the robot and released an instinctual blast of energy.

After discovering this strange power against Slug, Gohan had been trying to utilize it consciously. He still had not gained full control over it. However, the blast was still more than enough to affect the android. The energy cleanly blew off the android's gun arm, sending it flying through the air. The impact also drove the android further into the ground, cracking the road further.

Hercule removed his arms from covering his head and absorbed the scene that he just saw. The human side knew that the kid saved him. The police chief recognized just how much more dangerous Saiyaman just became. He stared at him for a moment, and Saiyaman caught his eyes. "Do you see now chief? I can't give out who I am."

Hercule didn't hear him, as he recognized a sound he hadn't heard in a while. He heard the tell-tale ticking of a bomb in the area. Realizing where it was probably coming from, the chief acted. He rushed into the glowing teenager and fell, bringing himself and the teenager facedown into the road. The body of the android exploded behind them, shattering both bodies with metal debris.

Hercule waited a heartbeat and looked up, Saiyaman following suit. The android had been completely destroyed by the explosion. The ground was now littered with small parts of metal and the lone arm Saiyaman previously blasted off. Hercule regained his wits started to pace around the road, looking for any pieces that would be helpful.

Saiyaman slowly stood up and looked at his unlikely savior. His eyes trailed over to the arm that he blasted earlier. _Well, I guess that something's better than nothing. _He quietly walked over and picked up the arm. Luckily for him, Hercule was currently being swarmed by his men who wanted to enquire of his status.

As there wasn't any more need of Saiyaman, the hero slowly took to the air. "Thanks chief!" He then flew away in the direction of the Brief's house to deliver the arm.

By this time, Gohan had memorized the location of the Brief's house. He had been there a few times over the last few days to check up on Dende. The Namekian was adjusting to human life quite nicely. Several things still flew past the green guy, like men and women, food, and a few pop culture references. Gohan didn't really understand those either.

He arrived to the Brief's household while still several hundred feet in midair. Summoning all of his speed, Saiyaman launched himself downward toward the ground like a bolt of lightning. He landed on the ground, creating a small shockwave in the process. The shockwave resonated nearby, causing car alarms to go off and nearby dogs to bark. Saiyaman winced. Bulma obviously didn't want the attention for working with Saiyaman, so she encouraged the superhero to be as covert as possible when visiting her. He at least owed her that much.

He pressed the busser on the door. A moment passed before the door swung open. It was Dende. He looked extremely excited to see Gohan. "Hey Gohan! It's so great to see you again! Bulma said that you would be coming by soon."

Saiyaman smiled before walking inside, Dende following behind him. "It's great to see you too, Dende. There was some trouble downtown and I'm bringing her something." He then remembered that Dende hadn't been told about the android attacks. "So before I met you, I fought this mechanical monster, called an android. After I disabled it, Bulma showed up and told me that she could figure out how to trace the androids back to whoever created them."

Dende nodded, asking him to continue. "So another one of them attacked again. I managed to destroy it again, but this time it self-destructed and almost killed me." He held up the arm. "All I managed to salvage from it was this arm. I figured that it was better than nothing."

Dende frowned at his friend. "So someone is making these things to attack people? Why would they want to do something like that?" Gohan sighed. "I really don't know Dende. I don't think I'll ever know." The two continued into Bulma's private workshop. Gohan figured that she would be working on something in here.

Calling out he said, "Hey Bulma, are you in here?" His question was answered by a dull bang, followed by a curse. _Yep she's here._ Bulma emerged from a cluster of machines rubbing her head. "Hey Saiyaman. Did you bring me a present?"

Saiyaman sheepishly held up the arm. "It's all that I could get." Bulma frowned, getting angry. "What? Did you break the rest of it? You know that I need as much information as I can from these things!" Saiyaman went on the defensive. "Hey! It's not my fault! It self-destructed and almost killed me!"

Bulma's eyes widened. "Oh my! You're okay, right?" Saiyaman assured her that he was. Bulma sighed. "Good. I'm sorry about that. I just kind of assumed that you were reckless. But, oh well. At least you got something."

Saiyaman placed the arm on the desk and Bulma pulled up a chair to observe it. While tinkering with the wire she asked the superhero, "So what did this one do?" Saiyaman frowned and tried to remember just what exactly happened. Trying to remember specific instances during battle is a difficult thing. The brain typically doesn't retain much.

"Well…" He began. "…the chief told me that the robot just kind of showed up downtown and began to wreck everything. He couldn't identify a reason or a target for its attack."

Bulma sighed. "That's what worries me. Being in the dark of the mastermind's motives are worrisome. These attacks could be many things. Diversions, mindless violence, or even tests. What exactly did it do?"

"Hmm… Well this one just seemed radically different than the other one. It seemed more inclined to attack via punches and kicks than guns or missiles. That threw me off. It also seemed very aggressive. It kept charging at me no matter how hard I hit it. Speaking of that, its exterior was extremely hard. It took powerful hits to damage it."

"And that's coming from somebody who can lift cars."

Saiyaman laughed. "Yeah I guess so. So what does this mean? Do you have any ideas of who could be making these things?"

Bulma started to pry open a latch with a screwdriver. "Sorry, but no solid characters yet. This machinery is even past my level. Studying it is like trying to read a math problem you don't understand. Whoever is making these things is either a genius or crazy. Probably both. And the unfortunate thing is that, whoever is making these is getting smarter. If he set it to self-destruct, then he's covering his tracks."

Dende then said, "So then you're still at square one then… Was that correct Bulma?" Bulma smiled, her eyes not leaving the arm. "Perfect!" she said.

Dende beamed. "Excellent!" He then addressed Gohan. "Bulma is teaching me about your customs. I have recently been learning metaphors and idioms. They are quite fun to use. Once I learn a little bit more, I wish to be able to join you in aiding the city. Maybe I'll even be able to go to school."

Saiyaman smiled. "I can't wait." He then froze, realizing something. _I forgot about_ s_chool! How long have I been out? Have they called the police? Have they called my mother? I need to get back soon!_ Panicking, he quickly said, "I must now be off, in case someone else needs my assistance." He then sprinted out of the room.

Dende looked at the empty space confused, while Bulma chuckled to herself. _Funny kid._

* * *

Gohan arrived back at school in record time. He quickly changed into his school clothes and did his best to sneak into the school. Luckily for him, the school still seemed to be in lockdown, so there was nobody wandering the halls. That also meant that he would be walking into the classroom with everybody's eyes on him.

Reaching his classroom he took a deep breath and opened the door. Upon noticing his arrival the entire class broke into an uproar. The first person to get to him was Erasa, who happened to be standing next to the teacher's desk. "Gohan! There you are! We were so worried about you? Where on Earth did you go? The boys checked every bathroom in the area!" She spoke in a very frantic tone. Gohan realized that he had worried her. That made him feel very guilty.

He was about to feel very upset for lying to her. "I, uh, ended up in the bathroom over by the gym." He then rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "I didn't mean to worry you. I guess I just kind of panicked."

The teacher, Mrs. Kina, walked up to the pair. "That is an understatement Gohan. Are you sure that you are okay. Like, fully okay?" Gohan was beginning to grow wary of the attention. "Yeah, I guess I'm just not used to city life. Back at home we never had stuff like this. This should be the only time."

The teacher's face was full of sympathy. "Are you sure? I could call your mom-" Gohan saw the red flag and interrupted her. "No, no. That's okay! I'll tell her. She'll react better if I do that." Kina nodded. "Very well, I trust you. I guess you should take your seat and wait for this crisis to be over." The two then walked up to their seats. "It could still last a long time."

"Well, I think that it should be ending soon." Gohan told his friend. Erasa frowned and said, "Why do you think that?" Gohan realized that he put his foot in his mouth. "Uh, just a hunch, I guess." Sure enough, the lockdown only lasted a few more minutes.

Gohan nervously laughed. "Well look at that! It seems I was right somehow!" Erasa studied the guy perplexed at everything that just happened. _He's definitely weird. _

* * *

Dr. Gero did not know how to classify this experiment. The fighter-class android did much better than expected at fighting the nuisance. Even though it lost, it still did a tremendous job at fighting the superhero. There were some kinks in the design of course, but the improvements would be fairly easy if he simply combined the newer prototype with the experimental data 11 collected.

Yes, 11 was just a means to collect data. After 10 was easily destroyed by Saiyaman, Gero knew that it would take a much stronger android to kill him, if the newcomer was anything like Son Goku. To do this, he built 11 to be able to fight on par with the glowing superhero. The android was able to observe and analyze the fighting style of Saiyaman.

Hopefully, if everything went according to plan, the next android would be able to easily destroy Saiyaman. He could construct the android to be more resistant from the data collected from the shock absorbers. The flight capabilities could be tweaked slightly to be more agile in the air. The main issue for that was where to put the booster. Saiyaman easily exploited a flaw in his design when he destroyed the rear booster. The feet boosters just could not support the weight.

The wild card was that odd ability Saiyaman used at the end to blow the machine gun arm off. Was flying and lifting cars not enough for the man? He'd have to analyze the impact data later. At least the self-destruct device went off as planned. He did not know where Saiyaman took 10, but he sure didn't want to play his whole hand.

Leaning back in his chair, Gero took a break from watching footage. The constant workload was really getting to him at his old age. It was only his desire to see the world burn that spurred him on. He rubbed his eyes and spun in his chair to retrieve a folder of data. His eyes ended up subconsciously trailing over to his secret weapon.

The green arm was floating in a glass cylinder filled with liquid intended on keeping it from decomposing. Gero luckily saw the strange escapee from Wheelo's dungeon. He liked to keep an eye on his comrades/potential enemies. His spy android had followed the strange creature from Wheelo's research center after alerting the doctor. The creature displayed remarkable regeneration abilities after Saiyaman wounded his arm. Fortunately, Saiyaman had forgotten about the arm in his haste to leave the scene. This allowed the android to bring the arm back upon the doctor's orders.

Unfortunately, Gero was not an expert in organic matters. He would have to communicate with Dr. Myu in order to gain any information on it. Combining his robotic expertise and Myu's experience with organic lifeforms could be the tipping point in his plans. Gero grinned. Yes, the world will be his.

**AN:**

**I wonder what you guys think of the absurdity that is Hercule saving Gohan. I'm trying to humanize the guy. But anyway, give me some feedback. I need all the help that I can get in improving this story. That includes writing style and quality. **

**Some reviewer replies: **

**ThePurpleBear/Superfly: Thanks for the input. It's what I expected for a first chapter ever. Let me know if you still see those errors in the later chapters too. I figured that the raw idea would be the driving force behind this story. **

**Son of Whitebeard: I like this. I like this a lot. **

**Anonymous: I know. No characters are screwed up too bad. I'm sticking to canon for the most part. Their powers will come from various canon elements, but won't be exact. I have to have some superpower diversity. **

**innocentsmilehehe: I'll bring in some physical feats. I have a few in mind. **

**E-K: Thanks. I have a character in mind for Batman. Nobody will be expecting it. **

**Ultimate Black Ace: Your input is always the best. Also, I suck at science, apparently. **


	9. Potluck

Chapter 9: Potluck

A man draped in shadow stood in an alley. He was waiting patiently for his target to return to his house for the night. He had strange orders for this particular mission. Normally, his benefactors simply paid for clean, simple murders. However, this time required a forged suicide. Suicides were so difficult. Murders were so much easier.

However, the man realized that he shouldn't be complaining. This particular benefactor had paid to release him from prison in addition to paying for his mission. He was quite the interesting fellow. His main concern did not follow the normal protocol, where the main objective was the elimination of the target. He did not seem all that concerned with the fate of the target, instead he was hell bent on retrieving a certain priceless artifact. The rich are certainly strange.

He had been observing his target for a few days now and 7:30 was typically when he came home. He seemed to be a very hard working man, perhaps to a fault. His family seemed to respect him, but weren't all that close to him. Which was fortunate, because now they would have to live without him. The man was happy when everything came together.

He watched his target enter his home. The time was nigh. The rest of his family was fortunately out, which would make this much easier. Suicides were somewhat harder to forge with witnesses. The assassin calmly looked for an area to enter the house. The rich were typically lackadaisical when it came to home security. Bank and cyber security were typically the most secure. The man quietly picked the lock of a side door and slipped inside.

He calmly stepped through the house, looking for a sign of his target. He froze cautiously upon hearing the floor creak. After hearing nothing else the assassin continued to look for his target. He heard the sound of running water coming from what he assumed was the master bedroom. His target was taking a shower. Convenient.

He knew that the running water would conceal the noise. Additionally, people stopped thinking while in a shower. The man had killed many unaware people in showers. Showers also made a great place to forge suicides, as many people have committed the act in such. He quietly opened the door and crept over to the closed shower curtain and the shadow inside. Observing his target, he struck. He opened the shower curtain and quickly jabbed a pressure point.

The man crumbled before he knew what was going on. The killer then calmly began to do the deed.

After it was finished, the assassin left the bathroom to finish the mission. He scanned the master bedroom to look for the object, but did not immediately find it. He was unfortunately not a detective, but would have to pretend to be one in this situation. He eventually found the object sitting in the living room, sitting on top of a stand like a trophy. It was an orange ball that appeared to be made of glass, with six orange stars standing in two rows.

The assassin frowned. The benefactor believed that it would have four stars. His benefactor had apparently made a mistake in his research. He reached into his pocket and retrieved the decoy ball his benefactor had ordered him to place. He took the real ball from the stand and placed the fake one in its stead. His mission accomplished, he left the building as quiet as he entered it.

No one could doubt the efficiency of the master assassin.

* * *

Football was an interesting sport, Gohan supposed. While he supposed that it was entertaining, the rules were just so confusing. He kept having to ask Sharpner questions, which was really starting to irritate him.

Gohan, Sharpner, and Erasa were standing in the stands of their football stadium. Videl had, graciously, declined the invitation. Orange Star High's football team, called the Dragons, were playing their rival team from South City High School. Orange Star's players were dressed in orange jerseys with green pants. Gohan kind of found the colors ugly. He would rather see the orange jerseys with some blue mixed in and orange pants. Sharpner had told him that this game is very important for their team's playoff chances. Not as important as their rival, River Side High, but still important.

After one of their players caught the ball the students went crazy. Gohan felt a trickle of soda fall down the back of his shirt, but when he turned around, he couldn't tell who the guilty party was. He sighed and turned back around to face the game again. Sharpner noticed the action and told him, "Don't worry about it. They'll all idiots." Gohan shrugged and continued to watch the game.

While football was an odd sport in itself, the way the students reacted to it was even more confusing. They seemed way too emotionally invested in it. All of the students, including Gohan's pack, were standing up and had been standing up since the beginning. Additionally, they all jumped around crazy after certain game events, like when one of their players picked up a ball off of the ground. It seemed like such a strange thing to get excited about.

He still wanted to stay, since Sharpner and Erasa asked him to go. They said that it would be essential to Gohan's high school experience. He was still waiting for that to happen.

He was ripped from his thoughts by a roar erupting from the stands. He looked down at the field to try and figure out what was going on, but couldn't make heads or tails about it. He looked over at Sharpner. "Hey Sharpner, what's going on?" Sharpner stopped cheering and groaned. "I don't want to have to explain it again… Hey 'Rase, can you explain it to him?"

Erasa gave an amused glance to Sharpner. "Sorry, but I don't have a clue about what's going on either. I just follow the crowd." The jock sighed at this revelation and said, "I wish Videl were here. She at least knows sports." He gestured to Gohan. "Unlike you guys."

Gohan rubbed the back of his neck and refocused on the game. Sharpner recovered from his irritation and tried to focus back on the game. Instead, something in the stands caught his eye. One of the students he knew from elementary school was running across the bottom part of the stands toward the exit. His name was Clip O'Donnel. They were pretty good friends back in the day. Unfortunately, they drifted apart in middle school. When Sharpner joined the Sharks.

Clip looked frantic and pale. This was obviously odd to the blond boxer. Another odd piece of information was the fact that Clip was a diehard sports fan. For proof, he and his friends tailgated before the football games. Before _high school_ football games. There was no way that Clip would leave the game unless something bad happened. Sharpner realized that had to be the case.

Even if they weren't really friends now, Sharpner still felt like he had to check up on his former friend. Unfortunately, he'd have to bail on his new friends. Well, sacrifices have to be made. He mimed checking his phone, as if he needed to be somewhere at a specific time, and said loudly, "Well, I think I need to get going. I'll see you guys later."

Gohan, who was staring off somewhere in the distance, came back to earth and said, "You're leaving? Then I guess that I will leave too. I should be getting home." The girl of the group had to complain about her friends leaving early. "Oh come on! Why do you guys need to leave all of a sudden? You don't want to at least finish watching the game?"

Sharpner shrugged. "I just want to go. I just remembered something that I have to do. Besides, why do you care? You don't even know what's going on." Erasa took fake offense. "Hey! I'm just here for the socialization!" The blond grunted. "Whatever." He then started walking down the aisle. "See ya." Gohan quickly followed after him. "See you Erasa, Sharpner!"

Sharpner parted with his friends and began to look for Clip. He had run in the general direction of the student parking lot. The future detective saw no sign of him walking around, so he figured that Clip had already managed to leave. Sharpner rummaged through his mind for his friend's address. Remembering it to be somewhere close to the school he began to walk to it.

He walked a few blocks before remembering the panicked look on his friend's face and picking up his pace. He reached the general area of his house, a fairly wealthy area located closer to the suburbs of Orange Star City. He knew that Clip's father was a pretty wealthy business man and raked in a ton of dough. He nearly wet his pants when he saw Clip's house the first time.

Now, seeing Clip's house made him start to sweat. The house was swarmed with police cars, all of them flashing red and blue lights. The police had set up a barrier surrounding the house with cars and barricades. Sharpner looked around at the policeman standing around and tried to get their attention. One of them caught his eye and walked over to him. "What's the matter son?"

Sharpner asked, "What's going on here officer? Is everything okay?" The officer noticed Sharpner's Orange Star badge and said, "You must be a classmate of the boy. Well, I'm sorry to say this but, Malcolm O'Donnell was found bleeding severely in his bathroom today. He and his family have been transported to Orange Star Hospital."

_Suicide? Mr. O'Donnell? There's no way… _"Thank you officer. I'll be on my way." The officer nodded to him and returned to his post. Sharpner turned around to go to the hospital. _I should go visit Clip… He'll need someone._

* * *

_What's going on?_ Saiyaman was flying over Orange Star City doing a patrol. Gohan had heard quite a few police cars in the distance while at the football game. He had become more and more anxious the longer the game went on. Gohan seized the chance to investigate when Sharpner started to leave. He had then changed and took to the skies to investigate.

The evening had turned into night and Orange Star City had burst into life. The buildings and streets were now covered in brilliant and flashing lights. It was times like this that Saiyaman felt most alive. Growing up on Mount Poazu, Gohan had never seen sights like this. Gohan truly felt blessed.

But now was not the time to reflect. He noticed a high speed chase going on near the residential district and flew down to put a stop to it. He knew that stopping the car could potentially hurt the driver. Gohan wasn't a fan of capital punishment. So he needed to figure out a way to slow down the car without severely hurting the driver.

He quickly descended toward the chase. Flying toward the back of the car, he gripped the back of the car and prepared to pull. The driver, unfortunately, noticed his presence and began to swerve the car back and forth. Saiyaman disengaged from the bumper, afraid of the driver running into someone and hurting both parties. He still kept to the air, flying at the same speed as the car.

_What to do now? _He needed to stop the car and fast. The car was approaching a bridge that led outside the city.

He suddenly came up with a plan. Flying next to the driver's side of the car, he leaned down underneath the car and lifted it up. The car, now tilted, only had two tires touching the ground. Only one, most likely, was providing motion. The driver was not prepared for the sudden motion and found himself lying inside the car, his face pressing against the window in a comical fashion. He should have been wearing his seatbelt.

The wheels eventually slowed down enough to where the car slowed down on the bridge. Saiyaman set the car down and took a breath. His break was interrupted by a car honking frantically. A minivan was heading straight for them, as the car and Saiyaman had wondered into the left lane of the bridge. Saiyaman could tell that it wouldn't be able to stop in time. He positioned himself to try and stop the car from colliding with him and the crook, as this could cause an even greater traffic accident with the cars trailing behind them.

Unfortunately, the car made a decision for him. It took a sharp turn to Saiyaman's right and had enough speed to jerk over the barriers and fall off the bridge. The hero didn't think twice. He leapt from the bridge and flew down towards the car. He reached its underside and began to fly upwards back onto the bridge. He placed the car down on the bridge close to where it had fallen down to relieve his burning muscles. He had gotten better at flying with heavy loads, but it still hurt horribly.

He remembered the situation that he left and turned back to the cars. Luckily, the cars had stopped short of each other and prevented accidents. That relieved Saiyaman. He didn't want to have been the cause of a massive problem. The criminal, however, had climbed back into the driver's seat and was preparing to take off. Saiyaman smiled before launching two blasts at the back wheels, breaking them.

The criminal was frantically pressing the gas pedal trying to get it to move. It almost looked comical.

Saiyaman watched him for a moment before hearing police sirens right behind him. He waved to the people climbing out of their cars to see before blasting off. His job was done here.

The hospital was as depressing as Sharpner figured that it would be. Rows of people were sitting down in the waiting area. Their faces were as solemn as Sharpner was. However, Clip was not among them. The long-haired blond walked over to the reception counter. An older woman was sitting there glossing over paperwork. She noticed Sharpner's approach. Putting on her fake smile she asked, "Hello, what can I do for you today?"

Sharpner cleared this throat and asked, "Excuse me. Is there any news on Mr. O'Donnell?" The receptionist shuffled some papers around and said, "Yes. I'm sorry but he just passed away." Sharpner had to press on the table to stop himself from collapsing. _Mr. O'Donnell is dead? Just like that? _Another question occurred to him. "Is there any information on how he died?"

The receptionist frowned and said, "I'm afraid that is a question for the police. Not a hospital." _Oh yeah. That's true. _He apologized and then asked, "Can I speak to his family?"

"Are you part of his family?"

Sharpner winced. "No I'm not. I'm a friend of Clip's". He flashed his Orange Star badge. The receptionist sighed. "Well… Normally I shouldn't do this. But that family could use some kind of support." She then wrote down a number. "They should be in this room." Sharpner thanked the woman and left for the room.

He reached the room and cautiously opened the door. The O'Donnells were clustered in a group around their patriarch. Clip looked up at the sudden noise, his face red with from crying. His red eyes widened upon seeing Sharpner. "Whoa. Sharpner? What are you doing here?"

Sharpner gave a light smile and said, "I saw you leave the game. I eventually found out what happened and made it here. I thought that you could use a friend." Clip made a half-hearted snort. "What, does it take this to get us to talk to each other again? What happened to us?"

Sharpner shook his head. "I don't know man. Growing up sucks." Clip nodded. "Yeah. It does." He then looked to his mother, who nodded. Clip then broke away from his mother, younger brother, and sister and invited Sharpner outside.

The two ignored the nearby benches and sat down on the floor like they did in their youth. Some time passed before Sharpner said, "Don't worry. I'm not going to ask if you are okay. I know that's a stupid question." Clip cracked a smile. "Thanks man. That really means a lot. You've always been good at this stuff."

Sharpner grimaced. "Not really. It feels like I'm walking on nails." Clip didn't even register the comment. He sniffed and said, "Listen man. There's something I need to talk to you about. Something I can't talk to my family about yet." Sharpner motioned for him to continue. "Before my family came here, a policeman came up to me and said that he thinks my father… killed himself."

Sharpner's stomach dropped. "Suicide? That's crazy. Your father would never do that. They have to have it wrong." Cliff sniffed and said, "That's the thing. His wounds were self-inflicted. That's what they told me. I don't know whether to believe them or… believe in my father." He put his head on his knees. Sharpner tried to comfort his old friend. While he wasn't sure why this happened, he was sure of one thing.

O'Donnell had not committed suicide. He was absolutely certain. Growing up with the guy taught him that. He loved life and never rushed into bad decisions like this. Alarms were going off in his head. Either the police were lying or… something else was going on. Sharpner couldn't figure out what, but something else had to be happening. There was something more sinister at work.

Clip sniffed beside him.

Oh yes. There was something else at work. Sharpner set himself on one thing. He wouldn't rest until he figured out what actually happened.

* * *

Gohan stumbled into his apartment after finishing his rounds. The teenager had made a few fly overs of the city after he stopped the chase but had not seen anything else that warranted his attention. He had eventually grown bored and retreated back to his house. Goten was sitting on the couch watching TV and turned his head after hearing his brother come back in.

Goten nodded to him. "Hey Gohan, what's up?" Gohan took off his shoes and plopped down on the couch beside his brother. "Eh, nothing really. I just got back from the football game my friends asked me to go too."

"Really? Who won?"

Gohan blanched. "Uh, I don't know actually. I left before it ended." Goten frowned at his brother. "Why did you do that?" Gohan lowered his voice and said, "I, uh, heard something that required my attention. You understand?" Goten nodded and said quietly, "Yeah, I understand."

Chi-Chi then appeared from the laundry room carrying a load of clothes. She brightened up upon seeing her son. "Hello Gohan! Did you have fun at the game?" Gohan replied sheepishly, "Well, I didn't really get it, but it was still cool hanging out with Erasa and Sharpner." Chi-Chi giggled and said, "Well that's understandable. You've never seen the game before after all." She then eyed the program on the TV.

Goten was watching some sort of cartoon featuring men with large, disproportionate muscles running around and fighting each other. One of the guys suddenly stopped fighting and starting yelling loudly, his already large muscles growing even larger. Chi-Chi frowned at the scene. "What on earth are you watching Goten? It looks really weird." Goten looked excited. "Trunks told me about this show. It's awesome!"

The man was still yelling. Chi-Chi shook her head. "Well, I think it's weird." She then sat down in a chair to fold clothes. The TV show abruptly cut from the yelling to the ending credits. Goten didn't seem to like it. "What!? How could you possibly cut off at that point? Gintei was unlocking his inner power! That's so stupid!" The other Sons laughed at the younger.

Chi-Chi looked up from her clothes. "Goten? Could you please change the channel to the news? I'd like to see what happened today." Goten grumbled something about stupid writers and changed the channel to the local news.

A reporter was in the middle of saying something. "…the chase was interrupted by Saiyaman, who flew in from the sky and stopped the driver." Gohan began to get excited. _They're talking about me! This is so cool!_ "Here is a report from an eye witness of the event." The screen cut to another reporter holding up a microphone to a man. The man said angrily, "And then Saiyaman comes from the sky and pushes the car into the other lane! We almost wrecked! I had my wife and kid in the car! They could have gotten hurt! This guy's a menace!"

Gohan felt crushed. _Is that what people think about me? Am I really just a hindrance? _The screen then changed to a close up of a policeman. He appeared to be in the process of saying something. "Yes. The police was prepared to arrest the criminal. We blocked off the streets across from the Silver Bridge with spike strips to prevent the criminal from fleeing. If Saiyaman waited a moment, then there could have been no risks involved in the arrest."

Gohan felt even worse after hearing the policeman. _Am I really that dangerous? I guess I could have handled the situation better, but I thought that I was doing the right thing. Was Mr. Satan right? Should I go through the police? Or should I just let the police handle everything?_

Gohan looked over to see that Goten looked as depressed as he did. The younger brother caught his brother's eyes and straighten up. "Well I think that Saiyaman is a hero. I think that these people are crazy!" Gohan had to smile upon hearing his brother's praise. Another thought occurred to Gohan. Before he could stop himself he said, "Hey mom, what do you think about Saiyaman?" Goten also turned to his mother, curious. Chi-Chi kept folding clothes for a moment. She put down a shirt and said quietly, "I just think that his mother worries about him."

Goten groaned. "C'mon mom! That's such a boring answer. You're such a mom." Chi-Chi looked at her son angrily. "Well guess what young man! I'm _your_ mother. You better be glad that I am your mother! No one else could put up with you." Gohan had to laugh. While his mother's answer wasn't what he was expecting, he still found it reassuring to hear that Chi-Chi didn't disapprove of what he was doing.

The family continued to talk and laugh for a while. Eventually, Chi-Chi checked the time and excused herself to bed. Working in the restaurant tired her out, but she loved it. The amount of time that she spent cooking for her two boys forced her to love how to cook. Getting paid for cooking was even better.

The two boys continued to talk and laugh in their mother's absence. Eventually, Gohan remembered something. He got Goten to retire to their room with him. He sat down on his bed and noticed Goten's puzzled expression. Smiling, he decided to answer his question. "So you do remember that alien I met?" Goten frowned. "The old one or the young one?"

"The old one. Before he stopped talking to me, he told me that he would send me some sort of mental training. I don't really know what he meant, so I'm going to try it out. He told me to just think about it and it would make itself known to me."

Goten stared at him. "Oh. Okay. So why did you tell me?"

"Well, like I said, I don't know what will happen. So if mom comes over here, just tell her I'm sleeping. Okay?"

Goten seemed excited to be involved in something. "Okay! You can count on me!"

Gohan smiled and got into a meditative pose. He took several deep breaths and attempted to focus on Piccolo. Several minutes passed and Gohan still felt nothing. He noticed himself staring to get irritated with waiting and calmed himself. He then decided to try to think about other things.

He settled on his desire to improve. The people on the TV got to him more than he thought they did. He replayed what happened in his head over and over again to try and figure out what he could have done better. He became so wrapped up in his thoughts that he failed to notice the air shift. He would have continued to analyze his situation unless a voice had not interrupted him.

"Welcome." Gohan jumped, as the voice was definitely not Goten. Standing before him was a tall green Namekian, dressed in what appeared to be a purple gi with orange boots and a blue sash. Gohan smiled. "Hey Piccolo!" He stood up and took note of his new surroundings. He was standing on a plain white floor. The floor continued uninterrupted to where it disappeared into the horizon. The sky above him was also bleached white. In the distance was a structure that appeared to be an oddly shaped house.

All in all Gohan thought it was really cool.

"So you're probably wondering what this is." Gohan whipped around to face Piccolo. Gohan nodded and said, "Yeah, you said something about mental training but-"

Piccolo interrupted him. "This is a mental state that I have put you in with my telepathy. A sort of willing hypnosis, if you will. In here, you will be able to train with me. Are you prepared?"

Gohan was still sore about being interrupted. "Well only if you promise not to-"

"Good." Piccolo closed the distance between the two rapidly and threw a punch at the teenager. Gohan narrowly avoided the punch, his power flaring up in self-defense. Now golden-blond, Gohan entered a fighting stance and prepared for Piccolo's onslaught. He blocked a left hook and dodged the follow up kick. He then retaliated with an elbow to Piccolo's face, but the warrior easily stopped the attack and grabbed Gohan's arm. He followed that move with a twist and threw Gohan over his shoulder onto the ground.

The impact jarred Gohan and he felt the breath leave his body. The teenager laid on the ground for a moment to catch his breath before standing up to continue the bout. Piccolo was ready for him to continue. Gohan, eager to take the offensive this time, closed the distance between them and threw two quick punches at Piccolo's face. The Namekian blocked both punches and responded with a right elbow into Gohan's face.

The blow hit home and Gohan's body bent downward. Piccolo threw a knee into Gohan's head and then launched a straight kick into Gohan's chest to knock him backwards. Gohan hit the ground with a groan. He lifted his head up to spare a glance at Piccolo. The Namekian was still in a fighting position. _Why is he so focused on fighting?_ Gohan slowly got up and faced his new mentor. "So Piccolo? Can you tell me anything about-"

Gohan was interrupted by an extended arm narrowly missing his head. _What the heck? It's like he doesn't even hear me. What's going on? _He refocused back on Piccolo to see the Namekian rushing toward him, apparently wanting to capitalize on the distraction caused by his arm, which was still extended past Gohan's head. The superhero prepared himself for the onslaught rushing at him.

He was caught off guard when Piccolo's extended arm grabbed Gohan's hair from behind and pulled Gohan towards the Namekian. Piccolo threw a punch into Gohan's gut and followed it up by putting Gohan into a headlock. The teenager struggled against Piccolo's grip but to no avail. After a moment of struggling he began to try to convince Piccolo to release him. _This is going to be tougher than I thought._

The two warriors fought few more rounds. Piccolo won all of them. Gohan kept getting back up to continue to fight, but his heart didn't appear to be in it. Gohan just wanted to talk to Piccolo about somethings. Piccolo seemed to know many things that Gohan wanted answers about. Gohan didn't know why, but he felt that Piccolo knew some information about him. About his powers.

However, every time he tried to stop the fight and talk, Piccolo would ignore him and continue to fight. After a while, Gohan reached a realization. This mental training of Piccolo's was some kind of training simulation and training simulation only. The figure before him could only fight. He wasn't real like Gohan initially thought. This realization depressed him.

After a particularly nasty blow to the temple Gohan got up with a fire in his gut. If this was all that Piccolo left him, than he would embrace it to the maximum.

**AN:**

**Sorry about the hiatus. It did give me some time to think about some things. **

**There will be no OC heroes or villains if I can help it. The only exception right now is Piran, but only because the canon Red Shark Gang was stupid. I intend to only use canon characters, with most of their canon powers. So no worries of this story getting really fanfictionish. **

**Also, if you're seeing superhero clichés, you're supposed to. I wanted this story to have some cliches, but not enough so that it looked like I replaced Spiderman or Superman with Gohan. **

**Any feedback is appreciated. **


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